Love Means Never Having To Time Travel
by Zeze Writings
Summary: COMPLETED! FWHG. Hermione and Fred accidentally go back in time to the Marauder's Era when a potion explodes. Hilarity ensues when Fred creates their cover story. TIME TRAVEL
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I will update every Wednesday.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

"Ugh, I don't get it. We defeated You-Know-Who and we're already of legal age. Why do we have to go back to Hogwarts and do all this stupid homework?" Ron complained for what felt like the millionth time to Harry, Ginny, and Hermione, all of whom were working on their summer homework.

"Because, _Ronald_, if you want to be an Auror, you have to pass your N.E.W.T.s first. Now if you don't shut up this instant, I'm going to curse your mouth shut," Hermione snapped at Ron, her voice betraying how thin her patience had been worn.

Ron, not wanting to take any chances with Hermione, promptly shut his mouth, stopping his oncoming retort and instead, mumbled to himself about not needing school. Thankfully for him, Fred and George came stampeding down the stairs in a race towards the table that the four were currently sitting at. Despite how sly Fred and George normally were, identical grins were plastered on both of their faces as they neatly slid into place on either side of Hermione, making it look as if they owned the world. George, leaning on his hand, facing both Hermione and Fred said, "McGonagall is such a kind headmistress isn't she, Fred?"

Fred, leaning his head on his own hand facing Hermione and George, replied with amusement tainting his voice, "She always was one of my favorite teachers, George. I mean who else would let us back into the castle to test new joke products after we practically destroyed the school," a hint of pride hidden under his amusement at the last comment.

Hermione by now had dropped her quill and looked from one twin to the other so fast it was almost as if a swivel charm was place on her head. Right before she was about to burst, George replied with a wider grin than before, "There's only one problem though. We have to take along some seventh year. I heard she was supposed to be the top of her class but for some reason she got held back a year."

"Really? What's her name? I may know her," Fred asked, watching Hermione trying not to explode with all the questions she had.

"I think it started with an H."

"Harriet?"

"Maybe a G for her last name."

"Gardner?"

"Nope not Harriet Gardner. Wait... I remember now! It was Hermione Granger!" George said hitting himself on the head mockingly.

With that said, Hermione finally settled on the questions she wanted to ask. "Did she really say I could go? Oh this is wonderful! The library all to myself, I can finally catch up on everything. What should I study first? No wait, when will we be going? I need to get my trunk packed right-"

"Calm down, Hermione. McGonagall gave you full permission to use the library. We'll leave in a week by Floo Powder," Fred cut in before Hermione ran out of air.

"Yeah, here's the letter if you're so worried, it has all the details in it," George added as he handed a piece of folded parchment to Hermione.

Quickly, she read and reread it, making sure she didn't miss a single piece of information. "I can't believe it. I get to spend two weeks at Hogwarts with the library all to myself. This is wonderful!"

"Only you would be happy with studying during the holidays. I would go mad if it was me," Ron grumbled loudly, no longer trying to mask his hatred for school or assignments.

"Come on, Ron, how can you say that? Hermione here is a bookworm. Her natural habitat is a library. It's what allows her to live," Fred responded, the amusement from his smile and his voice traveled upward towards his eyes as his voice took on a fake and sarcastically caring tone.

"He's right you know. She has to come with us and bury herself with knowledge that no one cares about. If a bookworm is taken out of its habitat for too long it might die," George said, adding on to Fred's comment, a similar look of mischief on his face.

"Will you two stop it? Shouldn't you go and tell your mother?" Hermione asked, as she hit them both with her Transfiguration book.

"Ow! Okay, okay, we'll go just stop hitting us!" George said as both he and Fred got up from the table and left the room rubbing their foreheads.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

"I know I shouldn't need to tell you this, but please behave yourselves. You two are fully grown men and you shouldn't have to be babysat all the time. Hermione, I hate to make you do this, but if they cause any trouble please owl me right away," Mrs. Weasley nagged as George, Fred, and Hermione stood next to the fireplace waiting to go to Hogwarts.

"Don't worry mum, we'll behave," George said right before he stepped into the emerald flames, disappearing in them when he yelled, "Hogwarts."

"Yeah, we promise to only send one suit of armor back instead of all of them," Fred quickly said before he too disappeared after his brother.

Mrs. Weasley, who was left swinging her dish rag at nothing but air, turned towards Hermione and said, "Please watch after them. Merlin knows what they'll get up too."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley. I don't want to be kicked out of Hogwarts. I'll keep an eye on them," Hermione reassured her before giving Ron, Harry, and Ginny one last farewell before she too disappeared into the emerald flames.

Seconds later, after what felt like going through a tornado, Hermione was pulled up from the ground by her arms, coughing out soot. "All right there, Hermione?" A voice asked from her left.

"Our mum held ya back we see," An identical voice said from her right, this time she looked at the owner of the voice and saw that it was George.

"Yes, she did. I promised her that I would not let either of you get me kicked out of here so don't try anything funny," Hermione said after she was finally done coughing.

"Aw come on, Hermione, what are you going to do? Give us detention?" George joked, letting her go once she was able to stand.

Glaring back at him, she replied, "No, but I will find a way, just you two wait."

"Sure, Hermione, whatever you say," was all that Fred said as he too followed his brother out of the empty office that they had arrived in.

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh, now was not the time for her to get worked up over the twins and their antics. She needed to follow them and report to McGonagall, hoping that they knew what her password was because she certainly didn't. Running to catch up with them, she could already see them whispering to each other about whatever they came here to work on. She rolled her eyes as she stepped into pace with them and loudly announce, "If you two really are planning on destroying a suit of armor then I really will write to your mother."

"Oh come off it, Hermione. Like we would really do something like that," Fred replied, rolling his eyes at her.

George looked at her and said with a growing smirk, "Yeah, we're trying to make them fly, who said anything about destroying them?"

"I would hope for your best interest that you did neither of those things," a sharp and commanding voice called out from in front of the group of three.

"Professor McGonagall!" Fred, George, and Hermione all called out in harmony, watching her descend the set of stairs that were in front of them.

"Professor McGonagall, how are you? I want to thank you so much for allowing us to come here over the summer," Hermione gushed as soon as McGonagall had reached her.

Smiling gently at Hermione, she replied, "Hello, Miss Granger, I can't say I'm surprised you are here. What surprises me is that these two wanted to come back," eyeing the twins with slight suspicion but also with an almost unseen smirk.

Grinning widely at this last remark, Fred and George shared a glance with each other before George replied, "I don't know what she's talking about. What about you, Fred?"

"No not a clue, George. Although, maybe she's talking about our past ... conquests," Fred joked back, ignoring the scowls from Hermione and McGonagall.

"I'm sorry if I have to cut this short but I really must go. The barriers around the school need to be check before the end of the day. So if you three have any questions, I'm sure someone will be more than happy to help you with it. Boys, Professor Slughorn is awaiting you arrival. He will give you any rules or instructions he has pertaining to his lab, please listen to them. Miss Granger, I believe Madame Pince has her own set of rules and instructions for you," McGonagall said as she waved her wand at their trunks, sending them flying up towards Gryffindor tower.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. We deeply appreciate this," Hermione replied.

By now, Professor McGonagall was openly smiling and replied in a tone softer than she originally had when she first met up with the group, "No matter now, just get along. You're keeping people in wait you know," sending Fred, George, and Hermione all on their respective ways.

**Now** **It's Time To** **Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

"What if we add Kappa blood? It'll react with the dragon scales and it should speed up the reaction," George mumbled to Fred as they leaned over a cauldron in the front of Professor Slughorn's classroom.

"It may speed up the reaction but we don't know what will happen afterwards. It might work or it might give us the opposite reaction. Kappa blood doesn't work well with sunflower seed oil," Fred mumbled back, poking the solution with a glass stir stick.

Hermione, who had snuck in minutes earlier, positioned herself directly behind them and said, "Depends on how much sunflower seed oil you used. If you double the Kappa blood, it can overpower the effects of the oil."

When Hermione spoke, both Fred and George jumped, nearly knocking their cauldron over. Once they realized what happened, they spun around to face her, yelling, "HERMIONE!"

Fred, holding his hands above his heart as if he was clutching it, was the first to reply, "Geez, there are easier ways to kill people you know."

"Yeah, like jinxing us. You know plenty of those by now I'm sure," George added, before sitting back down at the desk.

Folding her hands over her chest, Hermione rolled her eyes and replied, "Fifth year potions - the effects of Kappa's blood, you should know this by now."

Sighing, Fred looked at George and said in a defeated whisper, "She's right, we learned that right before we gave Harry the Marauders Map."

"I'll go get some more blood, put what we have into it," George said as he got up and walked to the back of the classroom.

"What are you two trying to make?" Hermione asked, looking into the cauldron.

"Give me one good reason why I should tell you," Fred replied while tipping a vile of Kappa blood into the potion.

Hermione, following the stream of blood from the vile into the solution with her eyes, responded, "Because I just told you how to fix whatever you're making and I would like to know if I'm about to be an accessory to a crime."

Suddenly, before Fred could even think of a retort, the potion exploded throwing both him and Hermione flying across the classroom. George, who wasn't facing the front of the room, didn't see the potion explode. However, he felt the explosion and was thrown against the cabinets hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Bits of the cauldron and the entire potion splattered the walls and ceiling making it look like the whole room was coated in a fresh coat of chunky, charcoal grey paint.

George, the only one who wasn't thrown across the room was the first to react. When he was able to gain most of his breath back, he used a stool to help him stand. Slowly, he made his way back over to the front of the classroom to see if his brother and Hermione were okay. When he reached the front of the room, he was met with nothing but a scorched black mark where the cauldron was, broken chairs, and chunks of wood that were blown off from the desk.

Panicking, he started to limp towards the doors leading outside, when the doors were suddenly thrown open and three people rushed in - wands at the ready. George raised his hands in surrender, not wanting to be cursed after what just happened. Professors McGonagall, Slughorn, and Flitwick lowered their wands once they realized who they were about to spell. Slughorn let out a strangled cry as he took in the new paint job his room had received. McGonagall, who was trying her best not to let her disgust overcome her, rushed over to George, struggling not to slip on the gray chunks on the floor. "What in the world just happened here?" She cried out, helping George out of the mess and into the hall.

"The potion blew up," George managed to say despite the pain that radiated from his chest every time he spoke, "Fred and Hermione ... where are they? They ... they were right next to it."

Professor McGonagall gave a small gasp as she looked back into the classroom. "Horace, I need you to find Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley," she said facing Slughorn before turning to face Professor Flitwick, "Filius, I need you to go find Poppy right away. George, why don't you sit down? You need to relax or else you'll just hurt yourself."

"Where's my brother? Where's Hermione?" George said while wrapping an arm around his torso.

"Professor Slughorn is looking for them right now. The explosion was quite big; they ... they were probably thrown across the classroom," McGonagall said, her voice shaking with worry for Hermione and Fred.

By now, Professor Slughorn had come back from searching his classroom and said, "Headmistress, I'm sorry but I can't find them," then he turned towards George and said, "what on earth were you trying to make? You destroyed my classroom! Are you sure they didn't just leave the room?"

"Oh no," George replied, hitting his head on the wall behind him and instantly regretting it as a sharp pain traveled through his skull.

"What? What's wrong?" Professor McGonagall replied, thoroughly worried that Hermione and Fred were in trouble.

George rolled his head along the wall to face her, allowing his feelings of guilt to play across his face and his feelings of remorse well up in his eyes. "I'm sorry; I wouldn't have told him to add it if I knew that it was going to explode. Hermione said that it was safe and - and I told him to add some of it while I got the rest. I - I should have waited, I shouldn't have told him to add it."

"What did you add? What was in that potion, my dear boy?" Professor Slughorn exclaimed, hoping that there was still a chance that the two missing students were okay.

Looking down, George put a hand to his head and replied, "We ... We wanted to make a potion that would speed up someone's molecular structure. For example, if a student was running late to class they could drink this potion and be able to run faster. Fred and I wanted to speed up the time it took for the powdered dragon scales to ... to react with the newt tails. I suggested we use Kappa's blood as a catalyst. Fred was worried that it would react badly with the sunflower seed oil, but Hermione said that if we double the blood we could over power the effects of the oil. I - I told Fred to add the blood that we had while I got more..."

"Then what happened to them? Where are they?" McGonagall asked - a look of complete helplessness on her face.

Suddenly, a voice from behind them answered, completely calm as if nothing had happened, "If I'm not mistaken, your friends are now in the past. If I'm correct, and I usually am, they should be in the year 1977."

"Dumbledore! What are you doing here?" McGonagall asked baffled at why Dumbledore would want to be down in the dungeons in someone else's portrait.

"When I heard the explosion, I guessed at what had happened. I must say, you may all rest assure that Miss Hermione Granger and Mister Fredrick Weasley are perfectly safe in the past," Dumbledore explained, twirling his beard around his fingers.

"The - the past! How can they be in the past? That's impossible!" Professor McGonagall responded, not aware of the effects of the potion ingredients.

Slughorn, putting two and two together, replied, "The sunflower seed oil! It reacted with the Kappa blood and reversed the potion. It sent them into the past instead of speeding them up."

"But, how will they get back to the present? What's going to happen to them?" George asked - vulnerability clearly evident in his voice.

"They will be back safe and sound, rest assure. Unfortunately, they will not come back to us until the end of the year," Dumbledore replied - mysterious as ever.

Shock ran through the air, George, the first to recover, yelled, "WHAT! THIS IS MY BROTHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT! WHAT DO-"

"GEORGE WEASLEY! WATCH YOURSELF!" Professor McGonagall yelled at him, cutting him off.

"My dear Minerva, it is quite alright. I understand why Mr. Weasley here is upset. If he wishes, I give him full authority to continue yelling," Dumbledore replied as calm as he always is.

"Sir, I just want to know what you mean when you say that they are in the past," George responded, straining to keep his voice calm, an effort in and of itself.

Smiling, Dumbledore replied, "I mean exactly what I said. Your brother and Miss Granger are stuck in the past and won't be returning for a while. Forgive me for not telling you more, but once they return, I'm sure you'll get your answers. Now if you don't mind, there is a Picasso that I simply must visit, the shapes in it make me feel ten years younger," Dumbledore perplexingly said before walking out of the picture and down the hall through others.

"Wait! Dumbledore, come back! Dumbledore!" George called out to no avail, leaving him with several unanswered questions.

Madame Pomfrey's voice called out from down the hall, "Stop shouting, it won't do you any good. From what I've heard you've probably cracked a rib or two and yelling will only hurt you more. Now where are the others? I can only imagine what happened to them."

"Poppy, I'm ... I'm afraid that Fred and Hermione are no longer with us," McGonagall answered.

Madame Pomfrey stopped dead in her tracks, panic hitting her hard enough that she didn't feel Professor Flitwick run into her. After several attempts at talking, she was able to ask, "Th-they're dead? What - what happened?"

"What? No! I simply mean that they won't be joining us for a while. They - They left for a while and they're safe for now," McGonagall answered, turning her head away from Madame Pomfrey so that she couldn't see the look of guilt on her face.

Sensing that there was something more going on, Madame Pomfrey tactfully ignored her answer and rushed over to George. "Now I want you to stand up ... slowly ... slowly ... that's it. Horace, if you don't mind will you help me bring Mr. Weasley up to the infirmary?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Slughorn replied hastily as he made his way over to George.

"Wait, George, before you go ... do you know how I can contact Hermione's parents?" McGonagall asked, wringing her hands nervously.

Looking over his shoulder, he replied, "She hasn't lifted the spell she put on them yet. They're still living in Australia. Hermione didn't want to release it yet until she knew that it was safe for them again. Don't tell my family ... I want to do it."

Looking slightly relieved, Professor McGonagall replied, "I understand. I'll leave it to you then. Get well soon."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure of it," Madame Pomfrey called down the corridor as she left with George and Professor Slughorn, leaving Professors McGonagall and Flitwick to clean up the potions room.

"Ow ... my head ... what happened?" Fred grumbled with his eyes closed, not knowing where he was.

"Ah, I see one of our guests is awake. If you will, sir, can you indulge me in your name?" A familiar voice said from the direction of Fred's feet, one that shouldn't be there.

Opening his eyes in surprise, Fred tried to sit up but the blinding light and the pain in his head were too much and he fell back onto his pillow, holding his head in his hands. "Dumbledore? Is that you?

Chuckling at his surprise, Dumbledore replied, "I see that you know who I am, but once again I seem not to know your name," trying to get Fred's name out of him.

"This can't be true. You're not real," Fred muttered to himself, not believing for a second that Dumbledore was still alive.

At this, Dumbledore stop chuckling and started laughing, "My dear boy, I can assure you that I am quite real. Why don't you tell me what happened."

"What day is it? How long have I been asleep?" Fred asked hoping that this hallucination had some-sort of answer no matter how useless it seemed.

"We found you and your friend yesterday in our potions lab. I wonder ... what did you do to cause such a big explosion?" Dumbledore asked in reply, peering over his half-moon spectacles in curiosity.

Sighing in defeat with the knowledge that what happened was his fault, he replied, "It was the potion that George and I were trying to make. Hermione told us to add the Kappa blood to it to speed up the reaction," indulging his hallucination. Then suddenly realizing something, he sat up, slower this time, and looked around the hospital wing, "Where are they, where are my brother and Hermione?"

"Ah, that's her name. Your friend Miss Hermione is still sleeping, however, I expect her to wake up any minute now. As for your brother, I can't tell you what happened to him. We only found Miss Hermione and yourself," Dumbledore replied.

"What are you talking about? George just went to the back of the room to get some more Kappa blood. We needed it to override the sunflower seed oil. He should have felt the explosion too," Fred said, still looking around the room for his brother.

"Why don't you tell me your name and maybe I can help you find your brother George," Dumbledore answered softly, trying to calm him down.

Looking at Dumbledore as if he was crazy, Fred replied, "What are you talking about, Dumbledore? You know who I am. It's me, Fred Weasley, I went to school here!"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I can't seem to remember you enrolling in Hogwarts before. I know several of the Weasleys too. You don't have the signature look of a Weasley either. Then again, Timothy Weasley is an albino and an excellent Gobbstone player. I just had the most riveting game with him the other week when I visited the ministry," Dumbledore said, smiling at the last part.

The look of confusion deepened on Fred's face, "What are you talking about? Great Uncle Timmy died before I was born. He was poisoned."

This time it was Dumbledore's turn to be confused. Pausing for a couple of minutes, Dumbledore looked out of the window next to Fred's bed, and then he asked softly, "What was the date yesterday?"

"Thirtieth of June, why?" Fred asked still not sure what was going on or how that was supposed to help him find his brother.

"Do you remember what year it was?" Dumbledore said, trying to prove his theory with this last piece of information.

"Nineteen ninety-nine, what does this have to do with anything? Where is my brother?" Fred asked, thoroughly annoyed at the fact that his brother was missing and that he had no idea what was going on.

"Will you also tell me what the name of the potion you were working on was?"

"It didn't have a name; George and I were trying to create a new potion to speed up a student's body. What does this have to do with anything? I already told you, the Kappa blood reacted with the sunflower seed oil."

"If you give me a minute to check you out of the hospital wing, I will tell you what I believe has happened, provided of course that you fill in some of the blanks."

"Um ... sure, okay," Fred replied as he watched Dumbledore leave the foot of his bed and walk towards the door in the back of the room.

Sitting up fully, Fred scanned the beds that lined the walls, the only one that was occupied besides his own, was the one next to him where Hermione was sleeping, a large white bandage wrapped around her head. Suddenly, Fred felt worse than he ever had before. Normally when his pranks went bad, no one got hurt badly. The worse thing that ever happened from one of the pranks he pulled, were the warts he and George had on their bottoms and that didn't even count! Now, not only did he put both Hermione and himself in the hospital wing, his brother was also missing. If anything happened to George... Fred stopped, he couldn't continue the thought. "Mr. Weasley, Madame Pomfrey has allowed you to leave. Now if you just follow me to my office, we can continue our discussion," Dumbledore said, cutting Fred off from his train of thought.

Once Fred and Dumbledore, had reached his office, Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and motioned for Fred to sit down too. Grudgingly, Fred obliged and took the seat opposite him, waiting for Dumbledore to tell him what was going on. "What I'm about to tell you may be hard for you to grasp but you must realize that I'm telling you the truth," Dumbledore said with a serious tone before lightly adding, "you seem to be a smart young man. You must be in order to create your own potion, even if it did explode."

Fred flinched at this last part but kept silent. All he wanted was answers and he wasn't dumb enough to get mad at the one person who would give him them. Suddenly, a thought struck Fred, and he bolted up from his chair, knocking it down. "Wait ... you're dead and Hermione and I were next to an exploding cauldron. Does ... Does that mean we're dead too? Is that why George isn't here, 'cause he didn't die?"

"Calm down, calm down. I assure you that you are not dead and neither is Miss Hermione. If you sit down I can explain to you what I believe has happened," Dumbledore said, trying to calm down Fred before he jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Sorry, please continue," Fred said, allowing Dumbledore to continue.

"You told me that yesterday was June thirtieth, nineteen ninety-nine, so today would be July first, nineteen ninety-nine. However, today's date is in fact July first, nineteen seventy-seven. If what you have told me so far is true, then that means you have traveled back in time twenty-two years into the past. The potion that you were making must have opened a time portal and it sent you here," He explained, with a serious demeanor that Fred had only seen him use during a particularly strenuous Order meeting.

"How? George and I were trying to make a student run faster so shouldn't we have gone to the future instead."

"You said something about sunflower seed oil and Kappa's blood. I believe that the two of them interacted badly, to say the least, and reversed the potion."

"Wait, I ... I remember telling George that right before Hermione interrupted us! So that means ... we really are in the past!"

"Now that you understand the situation, would you mind filling me in on a couple of things?"

"Of course, sir." Fred asked, still somewhat tense and dazed from everything that just happened, realizing that this wasn't just a dream and that it was real.

After an hour of explaining everything to Dumbledore and making up a cover story for Hermione and himself, Fred went back down to the hospital wing to see if Hermione was up yet. Much to his surprise and relief, she was. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't as happy as he expected her to be; instead, she was sitting up in her bed with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Hesitating after seeing her reaction, Fred slowly walked over to her bed and sat at the foot of it. Before he could even say a word, Hermione jumped in and demanded in a brusque whisper, "What in the world happened?"

Sheepishly, Fred started to explain that the reason the potion exploded was because of the Kappa blood, but Hermione cut him off mid explanation and said in the same tone as before, "No not that. I already know about that. Where are your freckles? What happened to your hair? It's black; and your eyes, they're gold! And look at me! My hair is so dark and ... and it has red in it!"

Trying to soothe Hermione's temper, Fred replied, "Technically, it's a dark auburn color with red-ish lowlights. Plus, your eyes are a wonderful shade of emerald, almost like Harry's but not quite."

"You don't seem very surprised about our new makeovers. What do you know?" Hermione demanded, still irritated over what had happened.

"I saw my reflection when I was heading up to Dumbledore's office. Nearly gave me a heart attack. I think it was the Morphing Mints that were in my pocket. George and I had just made a new batch and we haven't tested them out yet. I guess this is a trial run for them. Plus, you don't seem to want to know about what's going on. Aren't you curious as to why we're in the hospital wing?" Fred said in reply, curious about why she wasn't freaked about being in the hospital wing.

"**Maybe because I could hear you and Dumbledore talking the whole time,**" Hermione voice sounded without her moving here lips, yet somehow Fred could hear her.

Jolting back in disbelief, Fred stared at her for a couple of minutes not bothering to say a word because he didn't have the slightest clue as to what was going on. Then, after racking his brain for a plausible explanation, it hit him like a ton of bricks, "I think we're ... er ... married, technically speaking that is," he said quickly.

"There use to be an ancient tradition, that on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple would cut the palm of their hands and exchange blood. It was supposed to help them become one person. But, you have to trust me; no one does this anymore. It is an ancient and barbaric ritual that went out of style way before anyone can remember," Fred explained.

Then in an afterthought added, "We must have exchanged blood during the explosion," praying to Merlin that Hermione wasn't going to kill him before the day was over.

**REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

Once shock had set in, Hermione could hardly speak, for several seconds all she could do was stare at him with her jaw dropped. Finally, finding her voice again she cried, "Seriously, this isn't the original story!" practically yelling, had she not been trying to whisper so that she wouldn't alert Madame Pomfrey.

"Um ... well according to Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were the ones who showed BlueRosesAtMidnight's story to me. I got permission to use it ... so I ... I kind of went with it. Didn't you hear that part? It's in the author's note ... you should really read it," Fred said, ready to run from the room and away from the jinx that she was most likely thinking up right now.

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><p>Once shock had set in, Hermione could hardly speak, for several seconds all she could do was stare at him with her jaw dropped. Finally, finding her voice again she cried, "Seriously, we're married!" practically yelling, had she not been trying to whisper so that she wouldn't alert Madame Pomfrey.<p>

"Um ... well according to Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were the ones who found us down in the potions lab and they ... er ... already think that we're married. So I ... I kind of went with it. Didn't you hear that part?" Fred asked, ready to run from the room and away from the jinx that she was most likely thinking up right now.

Opening her mouth to say a particularly nasty retort, Hermione stopped and instead replied, "Well that explains Madame Pomfrey's behavior. She was twirling around like a love struck teenager. She distracted me; I didn't hear what our cover story was. So can you please explain to me exactly what we are supposed to tell everyone?"

Glad that Hermione's anger had subsided for the moment, he replied, "Well Dumbledore said he needed a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher so he hired both of us. I'm going to be Professor Greg Wilson and you'll be my wife Professor-"

"Myra Wilson. I told Madame Pomfrey that my name was Myra. I hope you don't mind, I used that little nickname that Bill and Charlie gave me. I swear, if they tell me I look like your cousin one more time I'll explode."

"I don't understand what's so wrong. She's actually really beautiful for a Weasley. She doesn't have the red hair or freckles."

"But she's so horrid. She told me that I was a gold digging attention seeker for hanging out with Harry! The only reason I used that name was because it was the first thing I could think of."

"Well, I think it's a great name, easy to remember too. I picked Greg because it was the closest thing to George that I could think of. I'm so used to being called George I thought I might as well choose a similar name."

"Well, I think it fits well too. What else did you discuss with Dumbledore?"

"We decided that I traveled to America every year to study for my schooling and then I traveled around the world where I met you. You were home schooled and allowed to take your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s early because you were so smart and then traveled around the world too. We met in France and eloped exactly a year ago. And lastly, Dumbledore said that he'll look into some different ways to get us back home but he doesn't think that he can get us back until the end of the year."

"Well, I suppose that once we get back home we can find a way to get divorced and if anyone gets suspicious of us for whatever reason, they can cast a validation spell and they'll see that we really are married. Madame Pomfrey said that I was free to go once you came back. Why don't we go down to the kitchen and get us something to eat? We can take a walk around the lake and fill in all the blanks about our relationship. Hold on a second ... where are we going to stay?"

"Dumbledore said that we can stay in the room behind the unicorn statue near the Defense room. He thought that it would be funny if we used 'time travel' as a password. He also told us that he'll send some elves out to get us some clothes. And if we need money, he'll set up a Gringotts account for us. I almost forgot how nice Dumbledore was, I feel guilty now for telling him that he died."

"You what? Fred you can't do things like that. You could end up changing the future. It's important that you never change the past, it could be deadly."

"Hey, give me a break! I thought I was hallucinating and that I had died! Plus, I think he took it very well, he didn't even ask about how he died."

"You're just lucky that he has enough sense not to meddle with the future. Now let's go, I'm starving."

A light seemed to click behind Fred's eyes and he said, "Ah that reminds me. Dumbledore wants to introduce us to the rest of the staff tonight at dinner," then standing up from where he sat, Fred walked towards the head of the bed, stuck out his elbow, and said in an excessively flirtatious tone, "Professor Myra Wilson, would you like to accompany me on a trip down to the kitchens for a midday snack?"

Playing along for the first time ever, Hermione responded, "Why, Professor Greg, I thought you would never ask," as she got up from the bed and accompanied Fred out of the room.

For the next three hours, both Hermione and Fred walked around the lake and the school grounds while practicing using their new names with each other and smoothing out the rest of the details of their situation. Together they decided that when Fred started traveling he first went back to America, then Australia, Egypt, and several other parts of England before he went to France and met Hermione. Hermione's story was that once she finished her N.E.W.T.s, she worked in her parents store for a year before traveling to America and then France. They met at a small café when Fred accidentally spilled coffee on her. Six months later, they elope in France because they couldn't wait for a real wedding. During their time on their walk, they also spent some time getting to know each other better - what they liked and what they didn't and other similarly small things.

Time went by so quickly they hardly noticed that it was dusk and almost time for dinner. Realizing what time it was, they decided to head back to their room to change into something more acceptable. Reaching the unicorn statue, Fred looked both ways down the hall, as if someone was watching him, then leaned in and whispered the password into its ear, causing Hermione to laugh at his charade. As the unicorn walked away from the wall, the bricks behind it seemed to melt away and form a door. Opening the door and stepping into their new home, they were amazed at how beautiful it was. They were standing in an open living space filled with a couch, chairs, a coffee table, two desks, a fireplace, and books lining the walls on shelves that reached the ceiling. There was a door in the far right corner, which Fred discovered led to the bedroom with a four poster bed that could hold at least three fully grown people. Unfortunately, before Fred could test its softness by jumping onto it, Hermione reminded him that they had to hurry and change for dinner. Thankfully, Dumbledore had already sent an elf to pick up new clothes for them. Hermione went to the bathroom to change while Fred stayed outside. When he was finished, he looked on top of the dresser and found a small red box. When he opened it, he let out an amused laugh. Hermione who had come out of the bathroom by now, walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. She too let out an amused giggle and said, "Dumbledore doesn't miss any of the tricks, does he?"

Taking the two rings out of the box, she put a simple gold band on Fred's ring finger and a matching one with a small diamond on her own.

"I guess not. Hey, are you ready to go and lie to several of our old professors?" Fred asked with a smile that took up most of his face.

"Definitely. Shall we?" Hermione countered, this time she held out her elbow for Fred to take as she led him out of the room and into the Great Hall.

When Fred and Hermione the Great Hall, they paused a second to take in the unusual sight before them - a long table, filled with teachers, looking slightly out of place in such a big hall. Fred broke the small silence by saying, "Whoa, they got rid of all the tables again,"

"It makes sense I guess. This way the teachers get to choose where they sit and who they get to talk to instead of sitting in one long row not being able to talk to others," Hermione whispered as they got closer to the table.

Dumbledore, looking up from his conversation with a distinctively younger McGonagall, smiled at them and stood up. "Everyone, if I may have your attention please. I am proud to announce that our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors are here. Greg Wilson and his wife will be working together with us for the next school year. Please welcome them here to Hogwarts and help them if they need help with anything," He announced, causing Hermione to blush when he announced her as Fred's wife.

Together, Hermione and Fred chose a spot in the middle of the table where it was less crowded and where they could sit with each other. It wasn't until they sat down, did they realize that they were sitting across from younger versions of Professors Flitwick and Sprout. Before they could move to a different spot, Professor Sprout giggled as she reached across the table and took Hermione's hand, "So you're married already? You're so young!" she exclaimed.

Hermione, too surprised to do anything, sat there - eyes wide, body tense. Fred seeing that Hermione wasn't going to say anything, quickly jumped in and said, "My mother always told me that when I found a girl who could put up with me, the first thing I should do is marry her. When we met I knew she was the one," smiling and hoping that she would believe him.

Thankfully, when he finished his story, Sprout launched into a fit of giggles not noticing that the grimace on Hermione's face wasn't a smile. Hermione, not seeming to relax, sent a panicked look towards Fred. Smiling back at her, he thought, **"Hermione, relax. Talk to them as if they are still our Professors."**

**"I'll try. It's just really weird seeing them this young,"** Hermione thought back, relaxing slightly.

However, before Fred could reply, Professor Flitwick jumped in and said, "Ah, young love. If I had the courage to ask out Martha Bloggins when I was your age, I would be a happy man."

"You married young and now your teaching young. You seem to know what you want from life. I wish you the best of luck this year. Some of the students can be hard to handle," Professor Sprout said.

Scoffing, Professor Flitwick rolled his eyes and replied, "Hard to handle is a mild way of putting it. James Potter and Sirius Black are some of the most troublesome students I ever taught."

Like a light bulb switching on, Hermione blurted out, "James Potter comes here!" before she realized what she said.

Surprised at her outburst, Flitwick replied, "Do you know the Potters?"

Regretting instantly what she just said, Hermione tried to smooth everything over, "Um ... I ... I met an acquaintance of theirs while I was traveling. They spoke highly of the Potters."

"That's not a surprise. The Potters are very well known in the wizarding world. It's such a shame that James can't live up to his family name. If only he put as much effort into his school work as he did his pranks he could be at the top of his class with Miss Evans." Professor Sprout said, but she was cut off when Professor Flitwick interrupted her.

"Lily Evans! Now she is a great witch - a great charmer. She will go far in life if she stays away from Potter. The day she gives in and starts dating him will be a sad day."

**"Fred, Harry's parents are here! What are we going to do?"** Hermione thought in a panic, tuning out the argument that had started between Flitwick and Sprout about Lily and James.

Sending back reassuring thoughts, he replied, "**We have to pretend not to notice them. You said so yourself, we can't change the future."**

Hermione cringed and thought back, **"But that means Pettigrew is here too! It's his fault Harry's parents died!"**

Fred knowing what happened between Peter and Harry's parents didn't need to be reminded, his dad and Professor Lupin had told him everything the summer he met Sirius. A strained silence passed between Fred and Hermione; Hermione gave a resigned sigh and thought back, **"I won't do anything I promise. I just don't think this is fair."**

**"What if we were sent back here on purpose? What if we were meant to stop Pettigrew?"** Fred suddenly thought in reply, surprising Hermione.

Acting on the instincts that were drilled into her in her third year, Hermione immediately thought back, **"No! We can't change the past!"**

Fred gave her a questioning look and was about to reply when Hermione stopped him. She sensed that the argument between Sprout and Flitwick was coming to a close, and she gave a small shake of the head to let Fred know that they would talk about this later. Luckily for both Hermione and Fred, the rest of the evening went smoothly and they had no trouble conversing with the rest of the staff. The highlight of the evening, however, was when a young and marginally skinnier Professor Slughorn spit a mouthful of pumpkin juice out as he jumped up from the table, remembering that he left his cauldron on the fire.

The next four weeks went by faster than either Fred or Hermione would have liked. Most of the time they were creating a new lesson plan, getting use to their new names (which were now second nature to them), cementing their background, or getting to know each other down to every minuscule detail. The issue about facing Pettigrew had remained dormant between the two time travelers until one of the teachers made a comment about the pranks that Potter and crew would pull.

When Hermione heard this she smiled and thought of all the memories she could share with Harry when she got back. However, she felt Fred tense next to her and with one look she knew what he was thinking. Excusing herself and Fred, Hermione led him back to their room where she sat them both down on the couch. Not sure how she should start, she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. Knowing that this was a touchy subject for both of them, Fred started the conversation bluntly, "Hermione, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Fred. We can't hurt him and we can't show him any animosity because if we do we might change something," Hermione reasoned in a soft voice, one that sounded a million miles away.

Knowing that Hermione only responded to reason, Fred used the closeness that he had recently developed with Hermione. Moving close enough so that their legs touched, he extended his hand to her face and cupped her cheek in his palm, pulling her gaze so that he could meet it. "Hermione, if we get rid of him now," Fred said, pausing before he continued, "Harry's parents won't have to die."

"If Harry's parents don't die, Harry will never have the power to defeat Voldemort. When we go back, Voldemort could still be reigning and Harry dead," Hermione responded, surprising Fred.

He had never thought of it like that; he knew that Harry had to fulfill the prophecy but he never knew all the details of it. Not wanting Hermione to best him, he responded, "What if we killed Voldemort instead? You were with Harry on his quest to kill the Horcruxes, you know where they all are. If we tell everyone in the Order about them then we can get the job done quickly and we can still get rid of Voldemort."

Sigh, Hermione wished she could get Fred to see her reasoning, "But one of Voldemort's Horcruxes was Nagini. He most likely hasn't made her one yet. He may have even had a different one right now. No one knows how he was able to get that childlike body he had before he was 'reborn'. He could have used a Horcrux. You have to imagine what would happen if Voldemort never disappeared. He would have continued to kill people for all those years. He may even be able to achieve his goal by then."

"Dumbledore. We could tell Dumbledore, we can go see him right now and tell him," Fred begged, his pale face knowing that she would disagree.

"We can't, we don't know Vodelmort's plans in this time, it's still too dangerous. Anyway, Peter may still be faithful; we have to hope for the best," Hermione said, picking up the hand that had long fallen from her cheek. "Come on, I'm sure the students are about to come breaking into the castle any moment now. We need to be ready for our introductions too. I'm sure that we're going to get a few curious glances."

Snorting, Fred looked at her and replied, "A few, my dear princess, you have forgotten to look in the mirror lately. All the boys will be ogling at you."

Laughing at his comment, Hermione, far to used to his behavior by now said, "My good sir, you have mistaken me for someone else! I'm nothing but an old married maid. What would I do with all of those unwanted affections? It is you who would be receiving the unwanted attention anyway; teenage girls tend to have wildly rampaging hormones."

"Old my arse, you're looking younger by the minute. As for me, I too am married. However, I would not call the attention unwanted, any attention is good attention," Fred joked as he jumped out of the way of Hermione's playful slap. Grabbing the offending hand, Fred pulled Hermione to her feet and said, "We'll be late if we joke around any more, let's get going I'm hungry."

"Wilson's and their stomachs," Hermione said, effectively slipping back into her role.

On their way down to the Great Hall, both Fred and Hermione were silent. The previous conversation seemed to have worn them out, despite their playful banter that they had afterwards. Knowing that they could change something yet still not being able to was far too big of a strain. What made it all the worst was having to teach the person who would soon be the center of all the pain that they were now enduring. Needing to take her mind off of these worries, Hermione started to think of her students and what it would be like teaching. Since, by now, Hermione and Fred were almost to the Great Hall, Hermione asked, "Greg, what if the students don't like me? I mean, I'm only a year older than them."

Laughing at Hermione's new found meekness, Fred answered, "Myra, you'll be great. You've taught Harry, Neville, and even my dunderhead of a brother Ron. Remember how you persuaded Harry to start the DA? You helped teach us and you were amazing. You can do this."

"But, what if they don't listen to me?" Hermione said, her eyes cast down.

Smirking, Fred replied, "Then we'll just have to give out detentions and take away house points. We are their teachers after all."

Smiling, Hermione said, "Greg Wilson, you're not going to abuse your power are you?"

Smiling innocently, Fred answered, "I don't know what your talking about. If you are referring to the fact that a certain house deserves to come in last place this year for the house cup, I might agree with you. However, if you are referring to the fact that I can't play favorites then I might have to disagree with you. My childhood heroes are supposed to be pulling their best set of tricks this year and they deserve to be rewarded."

Knowing that it was impossible for him not to choose favorites, Hermione let the subject drop as they entered the Great Hall. None of the students had arrived yet, but if the sound coming from behind the front doors was anything to go by, she knew it was only a matter of time before the students took their own seats.

Walking into the Great Hall, the four Marauders ceased their conversation and scanned the front table. None of the professors had changed and they couldn't pinpoint anyone new, save the young which and wizard at the end of the table. Sitting down, James was the first to speak, "Do you think Dumbledore forgot to get a new Defense Professor? I don't see anyone new."

"What about the two on the end? Do you think they'll be teaching?" Peter asked, hoping that no one would make fun of him.

Laughing, Sirius smacked Peter on the back and managed to bark out, "They're a bit young to be teaching don't ya think? I mean look at that girl, she's got to be our age at least!"

"The man next to her might be the new Professor. He looks like he might be old enough to teach - young, but old enough," Remus added.

Plopping down across from James, Lily sent a glare at him, "You know, you could have helped me with the first years. I had to get them off the train all by myself until some prefect decided to help me."

"We were supposed to do that? Sorry, Lily, I'll help next time," James replied, wanting to start the year off on a good foot with Lily. Unfortunately for them, both Lily and James failed to see the look exchanged between Sirius and Remus.

"So, have you seen the new Professor. I hope it's a girl this year, all the other Defense Professors have been men and I think a girl might actually be able to last in that position," Lily said as she scanned the table in the front.

Ignoring Sirius' laughter at Lily's comment, Remus replied, "The only new people at the table are the two on the end. They're a bit young to be teaching though."

Smiling, Sirius couldn't help but add, "The Defense Against the Dark Arts slot is cursed. Why would a woman be any better than a man? Men are stronger anyway, a woman probably wouldn't even last the entire year."

Shocked at Sirius blatant disregard for a woman's feelings, Lily stood up and walked down the table to talk to a group of fifth years. Shooting a glare at Sirius, James growled, "Why did you have to say that? I was trying to be nice. Can't you be serious for once?"

Looking like someone had hit him in the face, he responded innocently, "But I'm always Sirius, who else would I be? Peter? Plus, you were trying to be nice; I was trying to be funny."

Groaning at the lame and overused joke, everyone decided to drop the subject - not wanting to hear another Sirius/serious joke. Thankfully, at this point Dumbledore had stood up and was waiting for everyone's attention. When the hall was finally quite, he started his speech, "Since you will all be far too tired and far too full to listen to me after the feast, I'll just have to remind you of a few things now. First off, the Forbidden Forest is of course still forbidden. There are creatures in there that even I don't know of. Furthermore, Mr. Filch has a list of banned objects posted on his office door, please go and read it sometime this week. Next, I have the misfortune of telling you that Mr. Bryant will no longer be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. His unfortunate accident last year with a stray Bludger has left him with some memory problems. This year, I am proud to announce two new Professors, Mr. Wilson and his lovely wife, Mrs. Wilson, will be taking his spot this year."

A polite applause was given to the two new professors as they stood up and waved to the students. Once the clapping had stopped, whispers could be heard throughout the hall, stopping only when Dumbledore continued to speak, "Although they may be young, they have had an exceptional amount of experience. I expect all of you to treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve. Now, I'm sure you've heard enough of my rambling so please by all means dig in!"

With that said, food magically appeared on all the plates and the students joyfully took the headmaster's words to heart.

**REVIEW! (AND/OR FLAME PLEASE)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

"What class do we have first?" Fred asked as he made his way around the desk so that he could stand next to Hermione.

"Seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin," Hermione responded, the strain evident in her voice.

Before Fred could respond, students began to file into the room and take their seats. Fred put his hand on top of Hermione's and thought, **"Don't worry, Pettigrew didn't even make it into N.E.W.T. Defense. I already checked. And don't worry about messing up, I mess up all the time and it always works out for me."**

Hermione looked up at Fred and gave him a grateful smile, one he gladly returned before they both faced the class. By now everyone had entered the classroom and almost everyone had found a seat. James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily had all chosen seats close to the front and were waiting for the class to begin. Giggling at the look on Lily's face, Hermione now knew what she must look like on the first day of class. Clapping her hands to get everyone's attention, she said, "Let's first get this class started with my husband and I welcoming you to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Here you will learn how to defend yourselves against dark magic and how to fight it."

"You will also learn to expect the unexpected and how to always be prepared," Fred said interrupting Hermione by jumping on top of the desk in front of the classroom.

Rolling her eyes at Fred's antics and imitation of Mad-Eye, Hermione continued, "To avoid confusion, please address me as Professor Myra and my husband as Professor Greg. I've asked a few of the other Professors about the previous Defense teacher and from the sounds of it he wasn't very good."

Snorting, Fred interrupted Hermione again by saying, "Of course he wasn't, what kind of idiot gets hit by a Bludger and looses his memory?"

"Not everyone can be as efficient on a broom as you are, Greg," Hermione replied slightly annoyed.

"The same goes for you, dear. Not everyone can be as clumsy on a broom as you. If I was, I wouldn't be here today," Fred said smirking, humor dancing in his tone.

"Professor Greg, do you fly?" Sirius asked aloud.

His smile growing bigger at the question, Fred chuckled, "Do I fly? Why wouldn't I fly? I love flying it's like second nature to me."

Huffing in annoyance at his answer, Hermione replied, "I'm just surprised you've never been hit by a Bludger before. Merlin knows your brains are addled enough to have been."

"Aw, come on, I had my bat with me. If they ever got close enough I would send them flying at the other team before they even touched me," Fred responded with pride in his voice at how well he played Beater.

"You play Quidditch, sir?" James asked, his interest piqued.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be a wizard if I didn't. I was the best Beater on the team. Won every game we played from my third year until my seventh except for the one's where my seeker was hospitalized," Fred said.

Cautiously, Lily raised her hand and asked, "If you don't mind Professors, how old are you?"

Smiling gently at her, Hermione responded, "I'm eighteen and Greg is twenty. I know we're young but we've had a lot of experience just like Dumbledore said."

A boy in the back of the class who look like the spitting image of Avery, called out, "If you're only a year older than us what could you have experienced."

"My wife is one of the most brilliant witches I have ever met. She received both her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s early because she was home schooled; giving her plenty of time to gain real world knowledge," Fred said, surprising Hermione with his protective tone.

Trying to gather the situation again, Hermione added, "Both Professor Greg and I have been lucky enough to travel the world and get hands on knowledge of the Dark Arts. Unfortunately, that means we also had our fair share of fights. We may be young but we know what we are talking about."

The class went silent for a few moments, not wanting to anger either professor in fear that they might be punished. However, once a small girl in the back of the classroom asked about what they would be learning, the flow of conversation returned and the awkwardness relieved. Thankfully, though, the rest of the class continued in much the same fashion and ended without a hitch.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Disclaimer: Part of this chapter belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight.**

"Are you all right?" Fred asked as the last of their third year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs filed out of the room. He had noticed she'd been distracted during the lesson. Not noticeable to the students, but as they had spent a great deal of time together recently, he had picked up on her habits and expressions.

"I thought I'd be able to handle it," she whispered, staring at nothing in particular.

"Handle what?" He asked curiously, and immediately grew worried.

"I thought I'd be able to see Harry's mum and dad, and Sirius, and Remus," she whispered. "It's so hard, and I can't help but think that it's so unfair. Why them? Harry deserves to know them."

"I know Hermione," he said, trying to keep her from getting herself worked up. "But remember, we can't change anything. Maybe you could collect some photos of Lily and the marauders and put together a scrapbook for Harry or something."

"When did you get so smart?" She looked up at him, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Probably since I was forced to marry you," he replied, tweaking her nose. "I caught the dreaded bookwormitis!"

"Not funny, Greg!" She yelled, and immediately went to chase after him for his last comment, as well as the nose tweaking. She couldn't help it, there was just something about him that sucked her into his pace.

Running out of the room, he dashed down the hall, laughing as she chased after him. He waved at a few students in the halls on their way to lunch, chuckling even harder at the bewildered looks on their faces. Not too far from the Great Hall, he ducked into a little alcove, and once Hermione had run past, jumped out and began chasing her.

"Better speed up there, Myra, I've just about got you," he yelled, causing her to yelp in surprise when she realized she was now being chased instead of chasing.

Not quite completely aware of her surroundings, she ran into the Great Hall, still laughing at Fred's escapades. As he finally grabbed her in a hug from behind, she became aware that they were being stared at by the staff and students, many of whom were fighting back giggles and laughs.

"Nothing like a good game of tag to get your appetite going, is there, Albus?" Fred called as he grabbed a very embarrassed Hermione's hand and pulled her to the Hufflepuff table. Smiling, he asked, a confused looking fourth year, "Mind if we sit here?"

"S-Sure," she responded, her voice sounding higher than it was supposed to be.

Fred laughed at her reaction, which only caused her to sink down in her seat embarrassed. He looked down the table with a smile on his face to see what the other student's reactions were - mostly ones of shock and confusion. At this, Fred's smile grew larger and his eyes shown with a hidden amusement when he saw Hermione's confused face too. Thankfully for her, Hermione's years of experience from standing next to Harry allowed her to keep most of her emotions off her face. Clearing his throat so that he could get everyone's attention, he stood up on the bench and yelled, "From now on, my wife and I are going to be randomly sitting at house tables for our meals. This way we can get to know you better and if you have any questions we can help you," turning his head toward the Ravenclaw table, he added, "Beware, we will be joining you for dinner!"

Glancing at each other, the Ravenclaws faces mirrored the Hufflepuff's with a few horrified faces randomly placed throughout the crowd of blue. For them, it was a new experience to see a professor acting the way that they did; professors were supposed to be calm and serious, not loud and rambunctious. Seeing what Fred had done to the Ravenclaws, Hermione pulled him back down to his seat, nearly knocking him off it. The girl who had previously tried to hide under the table out of embarrassment, now sat up and said in a calmer voice, "I think that's pretty neat; none of the other Professors do that."

"Yeah," a seventh year boy chirped in, "this is much cooler. When the teachers sit up at their table, it's rather intimidating to go up and ask a question. It feels like everyone is watching you."

A murmur of agreement was passed along those who were listening, even to those who were sitting at another table but were within hearing range. Laughing, Fred said in a loud stage whisper, "There's nothing to be intimidated about. Those guys are nothing but a group of old fuddy duddies. Everyone is just watching to see if you give them a heart attack or something."

"Greg! How could you?" Hermione yelled, admonishing him for such rude behavior.

This caused all the students who were paying attention to laugh at them. These professors were like no other professors they had before. They were young, wild, and ready to have fun whenever they saw the chance, making them feel more like fellow students instead of overbearing teachers. Every time they saw the two young teachers, something new and unexpected happened. In fact, they were gaining a name faster than the marauders had.

As the students engaged them both in conversation, Fred couldn't help but smile as he watched Hermione. She was a natural teacher, and great with the kids. He had come up with the idea of sitting with the students originally to help her keep her mind off of Harry and everyone else. And it was working, quite well too. Before he could dwell on how well Hermione was adjusting, she interrupted his train of thought, "Ready to go Greg? We've class coming up," Hermione's voice interrupted his musings.

"Ready when you are, love," he smiled cheekily, standing up. As he passed the Gryffindor table, he reached out and poked Sirius in the shoulder. "Tag! You're it!" And promptly took off running.

"Ignore him," Hermione added in disbelief as she walked by calmly. "He's had too much sugar, I think."

"No worries Professor," Lily smiled.

"Good. See you all next class then," Hermione nodded, and left the Great Hall to catch up with Fred.

"So, who wants a hug?" Sirius asked once the time travelers had left the hall, only to have everyone jump away from him in response.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Later that night, Fred and Hermione were sitting in their small common room grading papers; the wind howling outside provided a haunting yet relaxing lullaby. Before Hermione even knew what was happening, Fred had her on her feet and walking to their bed. However, once she did realize what was happening, it took no effort to slide out from under Fred's arm and away from him. Confused at her actions, he asked, "What was that for?"

"What do you mean what was that for? We still have papers to grade," Hermione responded as if it as the most obvious thing in the world.

A ghost of a smile played across Fred's lips when he said, "I still have papers to grade; you need to go to bed, you're drooling on the essays."

Wiping her mouth for stray drool, Hermione glared at Fred and bit back, "I'm fine, I'm not tired at all."

His smile growing bigger, Fred challenged her, "Prove it, dance with me."

Scoffing at the idea, she countered, "We have no music, how are we supposed to dance?"

Putting on his best Dumbledore impression, he said, "Music, a magic beyond all that we do here," Hermione laughed at this and before she could respond, Fred started singing.

His deep, rich tenor surprised her to say the least. She had never heard him sing except for at the beginning of the year when everyone would sing the school song. Even then, he adapted a slow and steady funeral march tune that hardly portrayed how well he sang. She half expected his voice to be squeaky and high pitched, not to far off of what a mouse or a chipmunk might sound like. With a soft smile, Hermione took Fred's offered hand and danced along with him to a slow and even pace. Quietly, she asked, "How come you've never sang before, your voice is beautiful."

Pausing, Fred replied, "I've never had a reason to sing. I don't think even George has heard me sing."

"Why not? He is your brother."

"We may be brothers but we don't share everything. For example, I know my brother has a crush on someone, I just don't know who."

Laughing, Hermione raised her eyebrow and responded, "He likes Angelina Johnson. How could you have missed that? He was miserable after you asked her to the dance, poor Jordan had to give up his date to cheer George up."

Shocked, Fred said, "Really? The only reason I asked her was to show Ron and Harry that it wasn't hard to get a date. She was the first person I saw and I went with it."

At the mention of Harry and Ron's names, Hermione got a far off look on her face. Knowing exactly who she was thinking of, Fred started singing again, knowing that Hermione wasn't going to respond until she was done thinking. These past few weeks had been hard on her - on both of them. Classes were getting easier to deal with and switching tables at every meal helped, but there was still the lingering feelings of not belonging. How could they? They were time travelers who knew what was going to happen to most of the students. It was the small moments like the current one that helped them most though, being able to relax and letting your guard down was the best feeling in the world. Recently, it felt as if both of them had started to put up new guards and new walls everyday just to keep sane.

Luckily for both of them, Hermione came out of her reverie quickly and once again focused on Fred, making him cast aside his own melancholy thoughts. Voicing her thoughts, Hermione asked in almost a whisper, one so quiet Fred had barely heard it above his own singing, "It's hard isn't it? I keep telling myself that we're going to be able to go back soon but it's hard to believe sometimes. I look at the students and I begin to think that we might end up growing old with them."

"Albus will find away to send us back, I'm sure of it. I've been helping you know, we've made a rough outline of everything that George and I added to the potion and we're trying to come up with a similar one - one that will send us forward instead of backward. I think that we might end up with a solution by the end of the year," Fred said as he stopped singing.

Hermione stopped moving all together, her mouth hung open in shock at the news Fred had just dropped on her. Breathlessly, she asked, "Really? You really think so?"

Smiling down at her shocked expression, he answered softly, "Would I tell you otherwise? Anyway, think of all the great memories we're making for Harry. The pensive we started is filling up rather quickly with all the memories we've put in there. Your photo album has some wonderful shots in there too."

Blushing slightly, Hermione rested her head on Fred's chest and continued dancing where she left off with Fred singing again. With the howling rain and Fred's melodious voice, Hermione's lullaby was stronger than ever. She was asleep before Fred had even ended the song. With a small chuckle, Fred picked her up and held her close to his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. As he put her in bed, he struggled with the decision of waking her up so that she could change or not. Reason won out in the end and he decided that he would let her sleep. He did however, take off her shoes and outer robes so that she could sleep more easily.

Changing into his own pajamas, he crawled into bed next to her and tucked Hermione and himself in. The smallest of smiles graced his mouth when he remembered the first night they spent together in the past. Fred had never shared a bed with a girl who wasn't related to him so he said that he would sleep on the couch outside. When Hermione finally stopped laughing at him long enough, she said that she didn't have problems sharing a bed with him. Giving her a questioning look, he waited for her to continue. A laughing fit had struck her again though, and he had to wait for an answer. When she finally did stop laughing, she told him that while she was on the hunt for Horcruxes, she had to share a bed with Harry and Ron more often than she liked. Having him sleep on the couch seemed unfair anyway, he would only wake up sore. Quelling his embarrassment, he agreed and since then had been sharing a bed with her.

If he could say anything he wanted at that moment, it would have been about how peaceful he had felt. Nothing short of an attack on Hogwarts from Voldemort could have changed his mind.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Disclaimer: Part of this chapter belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight.**

"Mr. Snape, will you please stay, I would like to talk to you," Hermione called out as the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins left the room.

Fred, seeing that James and Sirius were hiding in the back of the classroom, dragged both of them out into the hallway so that Hermione and Snape could have some privacy. During the lesson, Snape had been deep in thought and unresponsive; Hermione, though she hated Snape, could not help but wonder at what would upset him. "Mr. Snape, you've never been this distracted in my class before. What's the matter?"

"Nothing is wrong," Snape all but spit back at her.

Looking out the window, Hermione seemed to look past what she saw and into another world entirely, "Times are tough aren't they," she stated as a fact instead of a question like it was meant to be.

Sensing that she was trying to be courteous, he replied in a less harsh tone, yet one that still blatantly bore signs of resistance to her help, "I suppose, as the Dark Lord is gaining more followers."

"I just don't understand how though," Hermione knew this was a slightly risky area to be entering, but she had often wondered what caused her professor to join Voldemort.

"Power, money, opportunity," he shrugged slightly, his face taking on a calm mask to hide what he really felt. "Take your pick of what he'd have you believe."

"And of the things he wouldn't have us believe?"

"Blackmail, extortion, threats against loved ones," Severus' eyes flickered darkly. Hermione noticed this, and felt sorrow flood her heart, Harry had told her everything and she knew that he must be talking about Lily.

"I see," Hermione nodded her understanding. "Just promise me one thing, Severus."

"If I can, possibly," he looked surprised by the use of his first name. Even though they sat at the tables with the students, they always used proper names, to help maintain that respectful student-professor relationship.

"Never forget you are your own person and you can make your own choices," she said quietly. "No one, and I mean no one, can take that away from you."

Severus looked at her, nodding slowly as he felt a spark of hope fill him. That was exactly what he had been afraid of when he had been forced to join those who followed Voldemort. He was afraid that he would be made to forget Lily and all the times that she had helped him out, both before and during their stay at Hogwarts. Their time together had meant more to him than anything he could think of. However, since Voldemort was against muggles and muggle-borns, he knew the constant danger that hung over her head.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he turned back to Hermione and replied in a more relaxed tone, "He feeds off of peoples fear of being different, his wish to unite purebloods gives his followers a sense of belonging. He uses this to control them and to quell their qualms about how he achieves his goal."

"I figured as much. I know what it's like to be the odd one out, and I remember how I would give up anything to just fit in. Then I met my best friends and Greg and I knew that I didn't have to fit in anymore, I was with family. If you ever find that one person who you know has made a difference in your life, protect them with all you've got, even if it means staring Voldemort down," Hermione said with so much conviction, Snape let his guard down and his shock shown through on his face.

He knew that his new professors were different and unorthodox but he never expected this. Here was a girl only a year older than him, not only saying the Dark Lord's name but also telling him to go up against him. For a moment, he felt as if his professor knew what he was going through, but that last sentence proved that she didn't. Anger started to build up in him, how could she tell him to go against Voldemort and risk it all when part of the reason he joined him was to protect what he would be risking. Spinning around to face the door, he spat over his shoulder, "I sorry, Professor, but I really must be going."

"I understand, just remember what I said," she called out to him as he left the room.

As soon as he left though, Fred came back in and sat down next to Hermione. Hermione sighed and put her head into her hands. She almost had him, she almost had his trust and she blew it. Putting his hand on her shoulder, Fred asked, "What was that about? I heard some of the conversation but not all of it, James and Sirius had my hands full."

"Snape loves Lily," was all that Hermione said in response as if it held all the answers.

Confused and shocked at what she just said, he asked tentatively, "Er ... What does that have to do with anything?"

Looking up at him, she remembered that Harry didn't tell him what happened the night Snape died. Closing her eyes, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and said, "The reason that Snape turned spy for Dumbledore was because Voldemort was going to kill Lily. He wanted Dumbledore to protect her so he offered his services."

Hermione opened her eyes to see Fred's reaction. His face held a look of concentration before it gave way to one of full understanding. With wide eyes he said, "In class today ... he must have been asked to join, that's why he was so out of it."

"That's what I thought too. He's really struggling with the decision. He knows that Lily is a muggle-born and he knows that she hates Voldemort and all that he stands for, but if he doesn't join than not only does he die but so will Lily."

"Hermione, you weren't trying to change the past were you? If Snape doesn't become a Death Eater, then he won't turn spy and he might actually die like you said. Where will that leave the Order or Harry? You said so yourself that Lily would die too."

Tears in her eyes, Hermione responded, "I know I can't change the past. I just had to do something though."

Moving his hand to her face, he made her look directly into his eyes, "Hermione Granger does not break the rules especially ones that could effect the whole space time continuum."

Laughing bitterly, Hermione said, "I know. You can't tell me that you haven't wanted to tell everyone what you know though."

"I wanted to jump up on the head table last night and scream that we were time travelers. Maxine Joss asked me what I thought about the last World Cup and I had no idea how to answer her. She kept grilling me with questions until I mumbled something about how I thought it sounded like an exciting game and I wished I could have seen it."

"Is that what she was talking about? I thought she was talking about her crush or something, you looked liked you were ready to just stand up and walk out of the Great Hall!"

"You would think that after almost two months of teaching, things would get easier but they don't."

"Two months, has it really been that long?" Hermione asked, surprised that they had already been stuck in the past for three months.

"Yep, time flies when you're with a beautiful woman," Fred said in response, a smile lighting up his face.

Smiling back at him for the compliment, she asked, "Fred, can you promise me that when we go back home, everything will stay the same."

"What do you mean?" he replied, not sure where this was going.

"Between us, I don't want us to grow apart. I really like being this close to you. I feel like you really understand everything about me and you don't have to question everything I do because you already know the answers," Hermione responded, not wanting to look him in the eyes, she looked to the side since he still had her face in his hand.

"Hermione," Fred whispered, "ever since we came here, you've brought out this responsible side I never knew I had. I feel like I've known you my entire life and that you know me better than anyone else, except maybe George but he is my twin after all."

Hermione wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his shoulder, "After the war it was so hard to go back to normal. Harry, Ron, and I wanted to curse anyone who entered a room unexpectedly and we didn't trust anyone. Now all the sudden, I'm thrown back here away from everyone ... I'm not sure what I would have done without you."

Acting on instinct, Fred moved back slightly and put his forehead on Hermione's. Quietly, he whispered, "I'll always be here for you, Hermione," before he slowly gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

Pulling away, he saw that Hermione was bright red and shocked at what he did. He too, was embarrassed, but he knew that it was right. He knew that he liked Hermione. Clearing his voice, he said, "I know we're married and everything, but will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Blushing a darker shade of red - one to rival Ginny's - Hermione responded with a soft, "Yes," before she gave him a small peck on the cheek.

"Hermione, there's something you need to know first," Fred said hesitantly.

Worried, Hermione asked, "What?"

"This ... this isn't going to be the exact same as BlueRosesAtMidnight's story, there will be some things that are different."

**REVIEW! (AND/OR FLAME PLEASE)**

**Thank you to all that have! I love you all!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

Waking up from a rather deep sleep, Hermione reached her arm out over her head to stretch. Unfortunately, in doing so, she also woke Fred up. Groaning, he put an arm around her waist to keep her in place. Giggling slightly, Hermione shifted so that she could face him. Raising her hand, she softly stroked his cheek until he decided to fully wake up. Looking up at Hermione he could see that something was on her mind, sitting up so that he could talk to her properly, he asked, "What's wrong, you have that look on your face again."

"I was just wondering if we were moving to fast, you know, as a couple," she replied blushing.

Letting out a loud laugh, Fred responded, "For a married couple we are slower than fire slugs, but for a dating couple ... well I know it's only been a couple of weeks but you said so yourself in the beginning, you've sleep with Harry and Ron in the same bed before and that you were fine with sleeping together in this bed."

Looking away from him in embarrassment, she said, "I know that. It's just that was before we were dating and now we are ... it's just different."

"My offer to sleep on the couch still stands, I don't mind; especially if this makes you feel awkward."

"No! It's not that, it was just something that I was thinking about. I really don't mind at all."

"Good, because I would have felt like I was in the dog house if you made me do that. Anyway, I like waking up with you in my arms, it feels nice. We should make a habit of this."

Blushing, Hermione didn't know what to say in response. Instead, she wriggled out of his grasp and jumped out of bed. Before Fred could even say anything, she ripped the blankets off of the bed. Pouting, Fred wrapped his arms around his knees to keep warm and said, "What did you do that for? I was really comfortable, you know."

"Comfortable you may have been, but hungry I am. It must be nearly lunch time by now and I am starving."

"Fine, but you owe me big time."

"Will this help?" Hermione asked and she leaned over to give him a quick chaste kiss.

"Maybe a little, I think I need more convincing," Fred said with a dubious smile.

Hermione returned his smile and said, "Only if you promise to get dressed first then we will see."

"You are one tempting Veela aren't you?"

"If I'm a Veela, what would that make you?"

"One poor, lucky soul. Lucky to have you as my prize and one sad fellow to have fallen into your trap."

"Come on, you poor soul, lunch is waiting."

"Don't you mean breakfast?" Fred countered with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

About half an hour later, both Hermione and Fred made their way through the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table next to a group of third years. Right as Fred started talking about a prank he had pulled, Lily Evans came and sat down next to him with an angry sigh. Not bothering to look up or even grab something to eat, she opened the book that she had and started reading it. Hermione, sitting across from Lily, asked, "Is something wrong?"

Looking up with a startled expression, Lily was surprised to find that she was sitting next to and across from both her Defense Professors. With a small blush reaching her cheeks, she replied, "Oh, sorry, Professors, I guess I didn't notice you here."

"It's fine. What has your robes in a twist?" Fred replied, ending his conversation with the third years.

"It's nothing, it's just I've never heard of a boggart and I have to compare it's influence to this potion Professor Slughorn is making us research," Lily explained.

"You don't know what a boggart is?" Hermione asked confused; flashbacks of her third year permeating her memories.

Lily shook her head and replied, "No, I can't find it in any of the magical creature books either."

"Really, why don't you try the Dark Arts books. I know for a fact that they are dark creatures," Hermione said, giving Lily a reassuring smile.

Scoffing, Fred said, "Why don't we find a real boggart. Reading from books isn't as good as real life experience."

"That's a brilliant idea, Greg, why didn't I think of that?" Hermione asked, with a surprised expression on her face.

Laughing, he responded, "That's why you keep me around, to think of the things that you don't." Standing up on his seat, he announced to the Great Hall, "Everyone can I have your attention please? It has come to my attention that you have not had any experience with a boggart. My wife and I will be offering lessons to all willing seventh years. Sixth years are welcome to come and sit in on the lesson, however since this is mainly for the seventh years they get first priority. This lesson will be held in an hour in our classroom; don't be late."

When Fred sat down again, an excited buzz of chatter broke out among all the students, even those who weren't in sixth or seventh year. Hermione and Fred quickly ate their breakfast - lunch for everyone else - and left to find a boggart. As they were leaving, Fred saw a piece of parchment sticking out of Sirius' pocket and muttered a small spell so that it flew out of Sirius' pocket and into his hand. Hermione, seeing what happened, immediately recognized what the piece of paper was. As they got out into the hallway, Hermione took the parchment and said, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

Watching the map come to life, they clearly saw their original names hovering over two black dots that were next to each other. With a click of her tongue Hermione muttered a spell, one Fred had never heard, and watched in amazement as their names started to change. Looking up in awe at Hermione, he asked, "How did you do that? I thought that the map couldn't be tricked."

"It can't, but it can be confused. I put a very strong spell on it that will confuse the map for awhile. It should end sometime after we are gone."

"You're bloody brilliant have I told you that," Fred asked staring at her in awe again, as she left him standing still with the map as she went in search of a boggart.

Thankfully, Professor Sprout had told Hermione the other day that she had found a boggart behind the compost bins and that she needed someone to get rid of it. Fred offered to pull the bins forward while Hermione captured it since she knew more about boggarts than him. Just as the boggart started shapeshifting, Hermione knew that something was different. It wasn't until the boggart took shape that Hermione knew exactly what it was; it wasn't her normal boggart, instead it was Fred (disguised as Greg) lying bloody on the ground. Hermione was too shocked to do anything and began to shake in fear. She knew that she had seen worse in the final battle with Voldemort and that this, compared to that, was nothing; yet she couldn't do anything except stand still in fear.

Fred peeking out from behind the compost bin, looked to see what was taking Hermione so long. When he saw himself lying on the ground, he looked to Hermione and immediately knew what happened. He pointed his wand at the boggart and muttered, "Riddikulus," turning the boggart into a clown. Seeing the boggart shape-shift again seem to snap Hermione out of her shock and she quickly put the boggart into the box that she brought along. Still shaking, Hermione turned around to be hugged by Fred. Surprised, she looked up at him and he responded to her unasked question, "I'm here and I'm not dead. Don't worry."

Relaxing into Fred's hug, she hugged him back and said, "I'm ... I'm sorry. I didn't expect that to happen. I guess a lot of things have changed since we've been here."

Laughing at her, he responded lightly, "Yeah, for example, you've turned into my mum; always worrying that one of us is going to die," referring to the incident at Grimmauld Palace.

Blushing until her whole face turned red, Hermione replied, "I can't help it, you've become extremely important to me."

"I know, it's the same way you're more important to me too," Fred whispered to her, then leaning down so that his lips were next to her ear he said, "I love you."

With a small gasp, Hermione looked up into his eyes searching for the truth, she answered, "I love you too," when she found it, knowing that they both meant it.

Smiling, Fred leaned down and gave her a kiss, savoring every moment that he was with her.

"Professor Myra, do you have a moment? I want to talk to you before the others get here," Lily asked one November afternoon, fifteen minutes before her class was about to start.

"Of course, I have plenty of time," Hermione responded before giving Fred a glance and saying, "Greg, do you mind."

With a fake salute he said, "Not at all, take your time."

Once Fred was gone, Lily cut right to the chase, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, "Professor, how do you know that you're in love?"

Blushing a dark shade of red, Hermione said, "Well ... love doesn't come right off the bat. You start out liking someone and it grows from there. Is there someone that you have your eye on?"

This time it was Lily's turn to blush, "I ... I think so, I've done nothing but argue with him since we've met and he is a pompous prat but ... he has changed recently ... and ... oh I just don't know anymore!"

"You're talking about James aren't you?" Hermione asked with a small smirk.

Slouching in her seat, Lily lowered her head and looked off to the side, "Yeah, he's been acting so mature lately ... and he's really starting to act responsible with all his duties. He's ... just not the same James. It's a nice change."

Giggling a little, Hermione said, "I think you might have a small crush on this 'new James'. I think, if he asks you out again, you should say yes and see if he is all that he is said to be."

Looking up shyly, Lily asked, "But what if it's the same old James. What if he hasn't changed?"

"Than tell him the truth, tell him that you thought he had changed but since he didn't you don't think you can be with someone like him."

"Do you really think something like that will work? What if he keeps asking me out afterwards?"

"Send him right over to me and I'll deal with him. However, if he really has changed I don't think you will have anything to worry about."

Smiling at Hermione's words, Lily let a small, content sigh out and said, "Thanks, Professor, you don't know what this means to me. If I told my friends about this I would be teased into an early grave. Just wait until they find out though, I might have to hide out here after I tell them," she finished with a laugh.

"I would be happy to let you stay here. It's just me and Professor Greg and we would enjoy the company."

"It really is nice to have someone our age to talk to - someone that won't judge us. How long are you and Professor Greg going to stay?"

Feeling her stomach clench in guilt, Hermione tried to keep her calm face in place, "Most likely only until the end of the year, we need to go home and figure out what we are going to do after that."

Confused, Lily asked, "You mean you're not going to continue teaching? Why not, you're both really good."

"Thanks, but Greg and I don't really belong here. We want to travel again."

"Really, where are you going?"

Thinking quickly, Hermione responded, "Everywhere, all the traveling we did in the past kind of makes it hard to settle down in one spot."

"That's so romantic, I wish I could be like you. You have everything anyone would want; brains, looks, a loving husband, and you're always so happy," Lily said nonchalantly on her way to take a seat since students were filing in.

Hermione didn't have a chance to respond, she was frozen in shock at what Lily had said. She had been so wrapped up in everything that had happened in the past, that she almost forgot about what she had right in front of her. By the time she gathered herself again, Fred had come back from where ever he went and was standing next to her again. Reaching behind her, he plucked the Marauder's Map off the desk and waved it in the air. Instant recognition hit James, Sirius, and Remus' faces when they saw it. Chuckling, Fred said from the front of the classroom, "I figured this must be one of yours. I found it this morning in one of the halls and I had a good laugh, this joke parchment is pretty funny. Where can I get one?"

"Um ... we made it ourselves, Professor, ... we ... er ... thought it would be a fun prank to give to someone, it's ... um ... not quite finished yet," James said as he made his way to the front of the classroom to retrieve the parchment.

Right as James pocketed the map, he turned into a giant chicken. The class broke out into peals of laughter as they watch James cluck and waddle his way over to his seat before he molted his feathers and turned back into his normal human self. James, looking horrified that he was the one that was pranked, looked at his professor and asked, "What was that?"

Laughing, Fred replied when he could, "A prank ... for ... a prank!"

"Can teachers do that?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I can, at least I am allowing myself too. I'm going to allow you to prank me as much as you can too. Guess why," Fred asked with a smile larger than the Cheshire Cat's.

Coming up with nothing themselves, both James and Sirius looked towards Remus for help. Shaking his head, he in turn looked back towards Fred for an answer, which Fred happily asked in reply, "What is entitled when pranking?"

Sirius spoke up first, "You need to plan, prepare, pull it off, and then not get caught."

"Correct, now tell me, how does a battle compare to a prank?" Fred asked, his smile still in place.

This time Remus spoke up, "You need to plan a strategy, prepare your troops, fight the battle, and not get killed."

"Yes! Now do you understand?" Fred said, looking expectantly at James.

Not wanting to let his Professor down, he answered, "By pulling a prank we are imitating, on a small scale, a real world battle?"

"Right on the dot! With this, you will learn what it takes to go into battle. The more battles won the higher chances are of winning a war," Fred said, letting his meaning take its affect on the class.

Once everyone had enough time to think about what he said, Hermione spoke up, "You are not allowed to prank me or any of the other teachers. If you do, you will still get detention and neither of us will get you out of it."

"So basically, I'm giving you free reign to prank me whenever you want without getting in trouble."

Suddenly, Sirius spoke up and said, "Professor, if you were a girl I would kiss you."

At this, the class broke out into hysterics again. When he was able to speak a couple of words, James asked, "What if he stays the way he is, what then?"

With a totally straight face, Sirius looked at James and responded, "I would have to kiss you." Scrunching his face in fake disgust, James led the class in another round of never ending laughter.

Later that night at dinner, Hermione, sitting at the Slytherin table, spotted a rather red faced Lily walk into the Great Hall and sit with her friends. Minutes later, James rushed into the hall followed by his friends who all ran into his back when he suddenly stopped. Shouting at the top of his lungs he yelled, "Lily Evans just agreed to go out with me!"

"James! What are you thinking?" Remus yelled, trying and failing to keep James from doing something stupid.

Dumbledore stood up from his seat in the front of the Great Hall and said, "Let me be the first to congratulate you, but may I suggest something more subtle next time. You don't want to embarrass your date."

"Of course, Professor, I'm sorry," James replied once he realized that Dumbledore was referring to the fact that Lily might change her mind. Then he broke out into a smile and said, "Next time I'll make a banner."

Groaning, Hermione dropped her head into her hand and mumbled, "Poor Lily, she'll never live this down."

Fred, hearing what she said, replied, "Come on, can you blame him? How long has he been chasing after her?"

"Lily was finally convinced that James had changed and became more mature, this isn't very mature," Hermione said, slightly annoyed that Lily had probably changed her mind about going out with James.

"Don't worry about it, you know what's going to happen anyway," Fred said, smiling at the fact that they both knew that one day James and Lily were going to get married.

"I know, it just doesn't help the cause when he acts like that," Hermione said, looking away, knowing that she wasn't going to win the argument.

"Give him a break, you remember what I was like when I was his age," Fred said as he whispered in her ear so that the students wouldn't hear him.

Shaking her head, she let the conversation drop, hoping that next time James would be more mature in his decisions with Lily.

* * *

><p><span>Disclaimer: This ENTIRE part of the chapter belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight.<span>

"Oh I love Christmas!" Hermione sighed happily as she and Fred walked into the Great Hall. It was December first, and they were joining the staff in decorating the Great Hall for Christmas.

"Yeah, Christmas is my favorite holiday, right after April Fools," he smirked as she glared at him reproachfully.

"What can we help with, Filius?" Hermione asked the small wizard who was currently directing everyone, and was obviously in charge of the whole thing.

"Pick any of the trees that aren't being worked on," he told them, pointing to a few. "There'll be some boxes of ornaments underneath it. Once you have them on, you can add snow, icicles, candles, and so on, till it's decorated how you see fit."

"Gotcha," Fred nodded, and pulled Hermione towards a ten-foot tall evergreen tree.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh as he immediately sat down and pulled the boxes of ornaments to him, eagerly picking through them. He looked up sheepishly after a moment, then reached a hand out and grabbed hers, tugging till she sat down next to him. They made quick work of using their wands to hang the various ornaments. After that was done, Fred insisted on stringing dried fruit, nuts, popcorn, and owl treats to create a large garland so the owls and other delivery birds could have a Christmas treat too.

"Shall we move on to a second tree?" Fred asked, looking over the tree they had just finished.

"Sure, this one looks good to me," Hermione agreed as they picked their next tree to work on.

"This reminds me of back home," Fred commented as they began levitating ornaments onto the branches. "No matter how busy we were, we always got together a few days before Christmas to decorate the tree together, just the nine of us. Well, eight once Percy isolated himself. But, like I was saying, no one else but family. And Ginny was always the one to put the star on top."

"Hey, we're halfway there," she reminded him softly, rubbing a hand up and down his arm, comforting him. "It's not all that far until the summer time."

"I know, and it really hasn't been bad here," he gave her a half smile, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. "Thanks largely in part to you."

"And you," she returned before facing the tree again. "Now, I think we should definitely do icicles on the tree, different colored ones perhaps."

"No way, let's go with snow, it looks awesome," Fred argued, gesturing to some of the other trees covered with snow.

"We'll do the next one with snow, but really, there aren't all that many with icicles, so we should put some on this tree."

"Wrong answer," Fred shouted gleefully, right before conjuring a huge pile of never-melt snow and throwing a snowball at Hermione.

"Greg Wilson!" She yelled at him in indignation. She quickly conjured her own piled of snow and made a snowball, throwing one right back at him.

"Woohoo! Snowball fight!" He yelled, backing away from Hermione, continuing to conjure up piles of snow so he could throw snowballs back at her.

"Think we should get involved?" Pomona giggled as she watched the young couple throwing snowballs back and forth.

"Of course not-" Minerva received a snowball in the face as Fred missed a dodging Hermione, and was infuriated. "Women, rally to Myra!" Professor McGonagall yelled out in a very uncharacteristic cry.

The female professors quickly ran, laughing all the while, to join Hermione. The men, seeing what was happening, rushed to support Fred. Both sides were busy conjuring more never-melt snow, and building forts as well as creating sizable piles of snowballs. There was a never-ending stream of snowballs flying back and forth as laughter filled the air. The men were dominating the throwing, thanks in large part to Albus and Filius who were experts with levitation, aiming, and firing charms. Minerva transfigured a few stray ornaments into catapults however, and the women were slinging the snowballs right back, as well as creating snow-dogs that Pomona charmed to go attack the men.

"PROFESSORS!" A loud voice interrupted. They turned, a bit sheepishly, to see Lily and James standing in the doorway, a few other curious students behind them.

"Yes, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, what do you need?" Minerva answered them in her usual prim and proper voice. The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact her robes were hanging skewed, her hair was coming out of its tight bun, and she was surrounded by snow-covered professors who had previously been acting like teenagers.

"I just thought you might like to know it's almost dinner time," Lily was struggling to keep from giggling at the sight of her professors engaged in a snowball fight.

"Of course, Miss Evans," Albus spoke up, eyes twinkling. "If you'll close the doors on your way out, we'll have things back to normal in a jiffy."

"Yes, sir," Lily nodded, and as she and James closed the doors, the professors could hear her burst into laughter. The professors all looked at each other, and the snowy mess that was previously the Great Hall, bursting out in laughter.

"All right, let's get things back in some semblance of order," Minerva took charge. "And you two … no more decorating for you!"

"Sorry, Minerva," Fred and Hermione chimed simultaneously, and after brushing the last bits of snow off their clothes and casting drying charms, they went and took their seats at the head table for a change.

"You know, this is all your fault," Hermione scolded him.

"Really? I was just thinking it was your fault," he replied mildly.

"Well, you shouldn't have thrown snow at me."

"I wouldn't, except you wouldn't let me dust the tree with it," he pouted. "So you see, if you had just agreed with me to begin with, I wouldn't have had to throw snow at you, thereby causing the snowball fight."

"I don't think anyone really minded anyway," Hermione laughed as she watched the professors finish banishing the snow, throwing the occasional snowball at one another, laughing and talking all the while as they fixed any trees that needed it. "They seemed to have had a good time."

"I'm surprised they all joined in," Fred commented.

"Well, I doubt they would have, but once you accidentally hit Minerva, it was all over. She joined me, and the other women followed her. And of course, Albus loves games, so he was quick to join you, and everyone else followed him."

"True. You know, I think that no matter how old people get, they need a few reminders of what their childhood was like," Fred smiled, lacing his fingers through hers and kissing it. "I'm glad we were the ones to remind them. Not to mention I got a few pictures."

"You didn't!" Hermione turned to him with a gasp.

"I did," he grinned, holding up the camera. "I charmed it to fly around and take pictures every thirty-seconds once we started decorating the hall. So I know it got some shots of everyone. It'll add to Harry's scrapbook quite nicely. Not to mention it might be nice if we did one for ourselves."

"Yeah, unless the others find out and kill us for it," Hermione laughed. "Just don't let them find out."

"You know, I think I've corrupted you. You're becoming entirely too mischievous these days."

"Well, I did learn from the best," she smiled.

Soon the doors were opened to the students who entered cautiously, no doubt having already heard about the snowball fight. Their attention soon turned to examining the various trees and decorations around them as they took their seats and began to eat as food promptly appeared.

"Hey, Greg," Hermione suddenly said as she turned to face him.

Swallowing the bit of food that he had in his mouth, Fred replied, "Yeah?"

"Please review and or flame," Hermione answered.

**REVIEW! (AND/OR FLAME PLEASE)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

Christmas was a subdued affair since none of the marauders stayed for the holidays. Fred and Hermione spent their meals in the Great Hall with a few of the students who stayed and the rest of the time in their own room exchanging presets and celebrating together. Hermione had given Fred some supplies that she knew he would need for his upcoming prank war. Fred had given her a small golden necklace shaped like a compass so that she could always find her way back to him. Despite how cheesy most girls would have thought it to be, Hermione thought it was the best gift she had ever received.

Eventually, their fun had to end when the rest of the school came back once break had ended. Hermione gave a small sigh as she dressed for the feast; as much as she like teaching, she hated seeing her dreamlike vacation end. Walking out into the main room, she saw Fred hovering over the desk obviously working on one of his pranks. Clearing her throat, she said in a stern voice, "Shouldn't you be dressed by now? We need to go down to the feast."

Surprised at how much time had past, Fred looked at his watch and swore. Standing up he said, "Go ahead without me, I'll catch up. Where are you going to sit?"

"I thought we could sit with the Ravenclaws."

"Thanks, just go ahead and I promise to catch up," Fred replied giving her a small kiss on the cheek before sending her out the door.

Huffing, Hermione made her way to the Great Hall irritated at how she had been treated. She shook her head and tried to loosen up; Fred always forgot about the small things when he was inventing and he most likely wasn't going to stop soon. Making her way over to the Ravenclaws, Hermione waved and stopped to exchange pleasant hellos with a few of the returning students. By the time she sat down, everyone was already eating.

Ten minutes had already passed by and Hermione started to wonder where Fred was. At that moment, however, a loud crash could be heard from outside the hall accompanied by a loud yell, "Myra!"

Hermione instantly recognizing the voice jumped to her feet and pulled out her wand. The last time she had heard him scream like that was during the final battle when Ginny almost got hit with the killing curse. Swearing silently, Hermione hated her decision to sit near the head table. Running, she made it half way down the main aisle before she saw a headless Fred come running into the Great Hall and skid to a stop. Yelling again, he said, "Myra! I've lost my head, I can't find it! You've gotta help me find it!"

Hermione stood frozen with wide eyes, her wand still pointed at Fred; several students had also risen while others were screaming. Blinking quickly, she snapped back to life and stormed over to Fred, her worry turning into anger. Fred didn't see this, all he saw a Hermione making his way over towards him. When she was a few feet away from him, Fred threw his arms open and tried to hug her but Hermione sidestepped him and reached for his head. Feeling cloth under her fingers, she gripped it and yanked it away revealing Fred's smiling head.

Laughing, Fred said, "Aw, come on, what did you do that for?"

Snarling, Hermione shouted at Fred, "Don't you dare do that again!" and stormed out of the hall with a bright purple hat in her hand.

A Hufflepuff, who was sitting near close by said to his friend, "She's got him whipped."

Hearing him, Fred turned to face him and said, "I may be whipped but I'm a happy man. Now, if you excuse me I have an angry wife to settle."

Running out of the hall after Hermione, Fred caught up with her quickly, still within eyes reach of the Great Hall. "Wait, for me Myra," Fred said, as he grabbed her hand.

Rounding on him, Hermione scream, "Don't you dare touch me! Do you know what you just did to me? I thought something bad had happened to you! All I could remember was your brother's bloody head and I thought the same thing had happened to you!"

Glancing around, Fred whispered, "Hermione, I'm fine. I've got my ear and everything."

"I don't care if you've got your ear or not! I thought you really did lose your head. But, according to you they're both the same!"

Still whispering, he replied, "Hermione, calm down, let's go back to our room and we can talk in there."

Seething, Hermione responded in a normal voice, "Fine, but your sleeping on the couch tonight."

Wincing at the thought, Fred followed Hermione back to their room. However, back in the Great Hall, students were talking about what just happened. Most thought that the whole thing was funny, others felt bad that Professor Greg was in trouble with his wife. James and Sirius were talking about how he had done it and were trying to figure out what the purple hat was for. Remus, speaking more towards himself, wondered aloud, "I wonder what happened to Professor Greg's brother."

"What?" Sirius asked confused.

"Didn't you hear Professor Myra? She yelled something about his brother's bloody head," Remus answered.

"Guess he just got hurt. But, now that I think about it, she also yelled something about an ear. I wish we could have heard what Professor Greg was saying," James said wistfully.

"I wonder why she was so upset about his brother though. You don't think that there was something between them do you?" Lily asked from James' side.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"Well think about, the reason it seem like she's mad is because she thought something happened to him like it did to his brother. Maybe she was dating the brother but he died and now she is afraid of losing Professor Greg because he reminds her of his brother."

"What kind of sick person would do that?" James asked in disgust.

"Yeah, haven't you seen them anyway? They are totally in love with each other that there is no room for another person. His brother probably just looks like him or something," Sirius said.

Surprised that Sirius could say something like that, Lily replied, "Yeah you're probably right. I forgot that they only have eyes for each other; break must have been longer than I thought."

"I think you've been watching too many shampoos on that muggle box, Lily," Peter added, not understanding why Lily had suddenly burst out laughing afterwards.

By now, Hermione and Fred had reached their room and Hermione was furious, "How could you think that was funny? You remember what my boggart was don't you?"

Sigh, Fred looked down and replied, "I sorry, I do remember. It's just that you've been sad all day and I wanted to cheer you up. I guess since you haven't yelled at me for a couple of years, I forgot how much you hated my pranks."

Letting go of a little bit of her anger, Hermione said, "I don't hate your pranks ... anymore. I just hate it when you try to prank me."

"You hate them and you know it. Why else would you get so mad? Plus, it was one of my pranks that sent us back here in the first place."

"That was as much my fault as yours! I told you to add that sunflower seed oil!"

"And I listened without even thinking about what could happen. Now we're stuck back in time for who knows how long."

"Stop that this instant! Is it really that bad? If it is, then name one bad thing," Hermione demanded.

When Fred didn't say anything, Hermione marched over to him and lifted his face slightly so that he could look her in the eyes, "I don't hate being stuck back here at all. If that explosion never happened then I would have never been able to be your girlfriend."

Throwing his arms around Hermione, smashing her in a hug, he replied, "I'm sorry, Hermione, I really did want to cheer you up. And I love being here in the past with you, really I do. If I didn't, do you think I would want to cheer you up?"

Laughing, Hermione returned his embrace and said, "Don't think this gets you off couch duty; I'm still mad."

"Even if I promise to never ever do something like that again?"

"If you ever do something like that again, you will be on permanent couch duty. Be glad it's only one night this time."

"So that means you forgive me?" Fred asked hopefully.

Cursing herself for her slip up, Hermione said, "I ... I never said that."

"But that's what you mean, and that's what I'll take," Fred chuckled.

Blushing, Hermione turned around and walked into the bedroom slamming the door.

Glancing at the couch, Fred sighed, wishing he had thought of another way to cheer her up. Conjuring up a blanket, Fred took off his outer robes and shoes, picked up a book, and waited until it was late enough for him to go to sleep.

The next morning, when he woke up, He felt warmer than he thought he would be. Fully opening his eyes, he looked at his blanket and noticed that an extra had been added. Smiling to himself, He vanished both the blankets and got up so that he could get ready for the day.

It was Hermione's idea to start the classes on dueling; Fred was against it wholeheartedly, he didn't believe in teaching future Death Eaters how to duel. Hermione won him over, arguing that only some of the students were Death Eaters and that most of the students were not. Grudgingly, he accepted her logic and followed her lead.

Their first class was first year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, two groups of students that got along the best and would most likely do the least damage. It wasn't until after the class was over, did Hermione realize how many spells a first year really knew.

Sighing, Hermione pushed a thought towards Fred, **"You win, I don't think I can continue with these dueling classes. Who knew long toenails could be so painful?"**

Smirking in victory, Fred walked over to Hermione and gave her a quick kiss while wrapping his arms around her, saying, "Never doubt me when it comes to the mindset of students. George and I had to study people's behavior so that we could push the boundaries on what was funny and what was too much. We found out a lot of interesting things."

"Really, like what?" Hermione replied, one eyebrow raised.

Grinning, he replied, "You like traditional pranks that don't hurt or distract anyone, nothing long term or loud. Harry and Ron on the other hand love the exact opposite."

Blushing at what he said, Hermione looked off to the side only to see that the marauders and Lily had already taken a seat and were watching them with bemused expressions.

This time, Hermione raised an eyebrow at them and asked, "Enjoying the show?"

Sirius answered cockily, "This is pure gold. Keep on talking, Professor Greg, I need some new tactics on picking up women."

Snorting in reply, Fred reluctantly let Hermione go as more students filed into the classroom.

Later that day, Sirius, true to his word on needing new tactics, decided to take an extreme approach - he was going to consort books. However, once he saw Snape lurking on the other side of a bookcase, he forgot all thoughts of women and instead had a strange gleam in his eyes. Checking to see who else was near by, he said, "Hey, Peter, did you finish your homework?"

Peter, looking slightly confused, replied, "Of course I did, you helped me finish it."

"Oh right, sorry, I forgot. Tonight's another big night for us and all, " Sirius answered rather loudly.

Peeking through the bookcase, Sirius saw that he had grabbed the attention of Snape, who was currently leaning his ear against the shelf. Peter, not aware of Snape, panicked and said, "Quite, someone might hear us!"

"Doesn't matter, we go out all the time. Sneaking off to the Whomping Willow right after dinner isn't all the hard you know," Sirius said still slightly too loud.

Shifting from foot to foot, Peter said, "I guess not. Let's go get food; dinner just started," wanting to get out of the library before anyone heard them.

Nodding his head, Sirius followed Peter out of the library, making sure to watch Snape's refection in the windows. Snape, who was still in the same spot, slid out of the library seconds after them.

Dinner for Hermione and Fred was anything but exciting. They decided to sit with the Slytherins that night, a decision they made when they realized that they had been ignoring them for a couple of meals.

Conversation that night had been sparse and it wasn't until Hermione glanced up at the ceiling did she realize why. It was a full moon that night, meaning that the marauders had been lying low and not playing pranks on Severus or the other Slytherins. Glancing over to the Gryffindor table, Hermione saw that Sirius and James were having a slightly heated conversation while Peter was looking ashamed about something. Just as Hermione was about to look away, she saw James sprint from his seat and out the doors. Sirius, after being pushed out of his seat by Peter, followed out the doors with Peter on his heels. Brushing it off, Hermione returned to her meal when a sudden memory hit her. Glancing up at the head table, fear written on her face, Hermione caught the Headmaster's eye and instantly felt his presence in her mind. Both of them jumped up from their seats at the same time, Hermione running out the door while Dumbledore all but ran after her.

Fred, along with the rest of the Great Hall, sat perplexed at what was happening. Looking up at McGonagall, Fred caught a glimpse of the moon and knew what was happening. He too jumped from his seat and made his way towards the door. Noticing that some of the other teachers were standing up too, Fred yelled, "Stay here! We know what to do, you'll just get in the way! Keep everyone in the castle!"

His voice shocked everyone in the hall; never before had they imagined he could sound as serious as he did right then.

Fred thanked Merlin when he saw Hermione and Dumbledore leaving the castle; with his long legs he could catch up to them before they got too far away. Putting on a burst of speed, he fell into pace with Hermione and took out his wand, mirroring the other two. As they rounded the side of the school where the Whomping Willow was, they caught the briefest glimpse of cloaks running away.

A howl ripped through their concentration, forcing them to turn their attention back towards the Whomping Willow. Hermione was the first to act as she threw a shield spell at the small hole near the base of the tree. Fred, acting seconds later, added another shield knowing that the werewolf would have no trouble ripping through both of them. Thankfully, it was Dumbledore, who came up with a more permanent solution. With an exaggerated swish of his wand, the roots of the tree covered the hole and turned into metal bars. What felt like only a breath later, a loud crash and a series of growls and barks came from behind the newly place metal rods.

"Will they hold, sir?" Hermione asked with trepidation.

The headmaster responded with a nod of his head replying, "When werewolves wanted to integrate into wizarding society, the ministry had to find a way to hold them back during their transformation. After several trail and errors, they found a way to contain them."

"He won't be hurt will he?" Fred asked, his wand still outstretched towards the tree.

"No more than he usually is by the end of the night." Dumbledore responded.

"What about Snape? We need to find him before he tells everyone about Remus," Hermione said, casting a glance towards where they saw the robes disappear.

Sighing, Fred looked towards Hermione and knew how worried she was for their future professor. "Why don't you two go save Snape from James and Sirius. I'll go tell the other teachers not to worry," Fred offered.

"I assume you told the others not to follow and that it would be dangerous?" Dumbledore said peering down at Fred.

Fidgeting under his gaze, Fred looked off to the side, "I just didn't want a bunch of people rushing out here and getting in the way."

Chuckling, Dumbledore responded, "Had I been thinking clearly at the time, I would have done the same thing. Dealing with a werewolf is no easy matter and panicking students and professors would only have made matters worse. If only you were still a student, Mr. Wilson, I would have awarded house points for your quick thinking."

Snapping his gaze back towards the headmaster, Fred felt proud that he was being praised by such a great man. Normally, when Dumbledore talked to him it was because of all of the pranks he had pulled. "Thanks, but it's the thought that counts, right?" Fred responded smiling.

"Indeed, now I believe you have professors to calm and we have students to find," Dumbledore said, bring them back onto topic.

"Of course," Fred replied, castling one last glance at the raging werewolf, before heading back up to the castle.

Over the course of a month, rumors about what happened circulated the student body, all of which were extravagant and ridiculous. The fact that Fred, Hermione, and Dumbledore did nothing to stop these rumors only added fuel to the fire. When February rolled around, Hermione didn't think she would ever be as happy as she was at the thought of Valentine's Day - it seemed to be the only thing strong enough to stop the rumors.

However, once she realized that she would also be expected to indulge in the frivolities of the holiday, she was surprised at how eager she was. In the past, Valentine's Day only served as an annoyance because girls would crowd up the library with whispers of their plans. Back then, she simply couldn't understand the want to gossip and share plans with someone, now she did. She desperately wished she had someone to bounce ideas off of when it came to what she was suppose to get Fred.

Fred, on the other hand, was as excited and nervous as Hermione. He spent hours racking his brain on what to get her, going over everything that they had spent talking about over the summer, and right when he was about to give up, a memory surfaced. Smiling, he dashed away from Hogwarts as soon as he could without raising suspicion.

A week before Valentine's Day, Hermione still hadn't come up with an idea on what to get Fred. The only time she had actually celebrated Valentine's Day was in her second year when Lockhart sent her that singing Valentine. Admittedly, she did send him a card in return. However, that was too long ago and she was too young to have even thought about being romantically involved with someone his age.

Hermione tried as hard as she could to appear calm and collected about the approaching day, fortunately Lily had been able to pick up her rapidly decomposing self control. Finding a spare moment between classes in a hallway, Lily dragged Hermione off to a secluded part of the library. Sitting her down at a table, Lily cut straight to the point, "You're worried."

Shocked at her bluntness, Hermione responded, "How did you know?"

"I don't think you could get anymore Type A than us," she said with a smile.

"So does that mean you don't have any ideas on what to get James?"

"Well, I have an idea on what I want to get him, but I have a feeling that it won't help you."

"Er ... right. It's just that I've never celebrated Valentine's Day."

"What do you mean? Didn't you celebrate it last year with Professor Greg?"

"Um, last year was rather hectic and we weren't able to celebrate it."

"I see. Well, how about something personal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe something like a reminder of your honeymoon or your first date."

Thinking for a few moments, Hermione jumped up from her seat and ran out of the library, leaving Lily smirking in her seat.

The following days passed by in a blur for both Hermione and Fred. When Valentine's Day finally came, Hermione was surprised to see that she was not the first awake. Fred was sitting in the kitchen next to a plate full of pancakes, sausage, and bacon. Surprised, Hermione stood in the doorframe, watching him sip his coffee and read the The Daily Prophet. The scene seemed so peaceful and unreal, that Hermione had to closed her eyes in order to try to make herself wakeup. Before she could convince herself, she felt a pair of strong ams wrap themselves around her and a head bury itself in her shoulder.

Jumping in surprise, Hermione let out a happy giggle at Fred's silliness. "Come on, I made breakfast," Fred said, pulling her towards the table.

Surprised, Hermione asked playfully, "You sure you didn't get some elves to deliver this?"

Clutching his chest, Fred feigned hurt. Sitting down next to Hermione, he said, "George and I had to learn to fend for ourselves when we were on the run. We didn't have mum's cooking after all."

Tasting the pancakes, she replied, "Mmm, I wished we had this when we were out hunting Horcruxes."

"I'll bet, according to Ron, he's never getting near another mushroom again."

"I did the best that I could considering we had nothing."

"I know, Harry hates mushrooms now too but he was at least willing to humor mum when she added them in dinner last summer."

Snorting, Hermione nodded her head and continued with her breakfast, not wanting to touch that particular subject. When she was done, she got up and put her plate into the sink and glance at the clock. Seeing this, Fred jumped up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her once again, "I don't think so. As part of my gift to you, I'm giving you the day off so that you can relax and get ready for tonight."

"Tonight? What's going on tonight?"

"It's a secret. Although, I did have some help picking out a dress and some shoes for you. And since I now how much you hate surprises, I'll give you a hint - think Yule Ball," Fred said mysteriously before he turned and walked out of the kitchen and out of their room.

Hermione followed after once she heard the door shut, however, when she went to open the door after him, she found that she couldn't open it. Smiling, Hermione turned around and walked over to the bookshelf to grab a book, knowing that she could have easily have spelled the door open. If she was going to get a day off than she might as well enjoy it.

Fred, walking down the hall to his first class, decided that he would give all the classes a day off. He knew that the students wouldn't be able to concentrate today and he didn't think he would be able too either. His mind was full of thoughts about what he had planned for tonight. It took him forever to set up but he knew that it would be worth it; Hermione deserved something as special as tonight.

Later, back in her room, Hermione had gotten tired of the book she had grabbed and decided that she should take a look at the dress Fred had bought her. As she made her way to her room, she began to wonder how tonight was supposed to relate to the Yule Ball. Did it mean that he was going to take her to a ball or that she was supposed to dress like she was going to a ball? Sighing, she hesitantly opened the door to her dresser, afraid of what Fred picked out for her.

Once she actually saw the dress, she gasped at how beautiful it was. It was gorgeous golden creme with a ruby red bodice. Despite the obvious Gryffindor colors, Hermione couldn't help but be taken by the dress. Suddenly it clicked in her mind who helped him with the dress - McGonagall. Smiling at the thought of Fred asking her for help finding a dress, Hermione was amazed at the lengths he went through for her present. Sighing again, Hermione realized that if she wanted to be presentable in the dress, she would have to start getting ready now.

As soon as she was finished getting ready, Hermione heard a soft knock on the door. Opening it, Hermione was surprised to see Fred dressed in a tux with a ruby red tie that matched her dressed. Gaping, Hermione saw that Fred mirrored her expression. Hermione blushed under his gaze and tried to divert his attention, "So, are you going to tell me where we are going?"

Focusing back on Hermione, Fred replied, "What ... Oh! I told you it's a surprise. You look beautiful by the way."

Blushing redder than Ginny, Hermione responded, "You look absolutely handsome too."

"Thank you, but we really must be going, the portkey is about to leave without us. Dumbledore went through a lot of trouble to get this for us."

"Of course, lead the way," Hermione said as she walked pass him and out into the living area.

Once she was past him, she stumbled forward as she was blinded by a scarf that was tied around her eyes.

"I told you it's a surprise. I already gave you the clue. Have you figured it out yet?"

"No, I'm quite put out by it too."

Laughing at her reply, Fred took her hand and placed it on a smooth object, seconds before she felt a tug behind her bellybutton. Spinning, she stumbled again as she landed, this time, she felt Fred's arms surround her. Relaxing into his arms, she could feel a cold wind hit her as if it had just come off of a large body of water. Reaching up to take the scarf off of her eyes, she felt hands stop hers. Slowing, the scarf was taken off for her, leaving her to stare at Fred's golden eyes. Fred stared back at her for a couple of moments more before looking up and over her head. Turning to face whatever he was looking at, Hermione gasped in surprise.

"Is that the London Showboat?"

"I remembered that you mentioned how this would be you perfect date. I thought you deserved something special."

"Thank you, Fred! I ... I don't think my gift will even match up to yours."

"Try me," Fred said with a smile.

Taking out a small package from her clutch, Hermione also took out her wand, tapping the package. Fred took the growing gift from her and eagerly opened it. Instantly, he broke out into a smile and wrapped her in a hug. "Hermione, this is perfect."

She smiled back at him looking at the picture that she got him. It was of the two of them fooling around in the Great Hall during winter when they were supposed to be setting up it up for Christmas. Fred tugged at Hermione's arm, pulling her towards the boat, "Come on let's get going, the night's still young."

"There's still one more way I want to thank you," Hermione said, blushing.

Fred, unsure of what could cause her to blush like that, asked, "Really, how?"

Hermione threw open her arms, took out her wand, and wrote in the air with shimmering letters, "Thank you for all of the reviews! Also thank you for catching the author's mistakes! Please review and/or criticize!"

**REVIEW! (AND/OR FLAME PLEASE)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

_Disclaimer: Part of this chapter belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight._

"Hey, guys, you know how we've been on our best behavior?" James asked one night while doing his homework.

"Yes, it's been a pleasant change. You should keep up the good work," Remus said without even looking up from his book.

"Ha ha, very funny," Sirius said to Remus before turning to face James, "Why? What do you have in mind?"

"Well, what is coming up soon?" James asked.

"Easter Holidays?" Peter piped.

"Nope, it's our favorite holiday - April Fool's Day!" James answered back.

Remus let out a heavy sigh before setting down his book so that he could actively participate in the conversation. "After everything that happened, do you really want to try the professor's patience?"

Rolling his eyes in return, James replied, "Well, I was thinking what if our prank was not to prank. What if instead of winding everyone up, we help them relax?"

"What?" Sirius asked, unsure of where James was going with this.

"Think about it. Fifth years have OWLs, seventh years have NEWTs, and the rest of the school has exams coming up. What does everyone need right now?" James questioned.

"A break?" Peter squeak, afraid that he would be wrong again.

Jumping up from his chair, James yelled, "Yes!"

"Hold on let me get this straight. You don't want to prank anyone in order to give everyone a break?" Remus asked.

"No, instead of getting everyone mad by pulling a prank on them; we give them a prank that they can enjoy," James explained.

Getting frustrated with all of the round about talking, Sirius said, "Why don't you just explain what you have in mind."

"I thought you would never ask," James said with a sly smile.

"What on earth is going on?" Hermione stared around in amazement as she and Fred walked into the Great Hall.

It was April first, and Hermione and Fred had gone to the Great Hall for breakfast like usual. However, the scene in front of them was anything but what they expected. The long tables were gone, as was the floor. It was replaced by dozens of red and white checkered picnic blankets, spread out on lush green grass covered ground. Each blanket could hold about ten students, and they also had a large picnic basket in the middle of it, that presumably held food and dishes and silverware.

"I don't rightly know, but I presume this is thanks to the marauders," Fred replied as they made their way towards the front of the hall where a table had kindly been left up for the professors who were not as limber as they used to be, and needed chairs.

"Ah, Greg, Myra, how are you both today?" Albus greeted from where he was comfortably reclining on a bright purple bean bag at a blanket near the head table.

"Quite fine, sir, and yourself?" Hermione smiled as a few dozen butterflies suddenly appeared, landing on people's noses.

A pink butterfly flew towards her and landed on her nose, as did a green one to Fred. Hermione giggled at the tickling sensation it caused from landing on her nose. It sat there for a few seconds before disappearing with a pop. As it did, Hermione felt a warmth spread through her body, and instantly felt a sense of calm come over her.

"The marauders it seems, have decided that the staff and students needed a vacation from stress. At least for the afternoon," Minerva smiled from her spot on the cloth. "Brilliant bit of transfiguration if I do say so myself. The whole floor into a grassy spread. Unbelievable."

"And their charm work!" Filius squeaked as he clapped his hands, delighted. "The butterflies are a bit of conjuring, but they've had a serenity charm added in, as well as a time charm so they disappear upon a few seconds contact with skin!"

"It seems to have been a good idea," Hermione observed as she looked around the Great Hall from her spot on the blanket.

All the students were talking and laughing, enjoying the 'picnic' that had been made. Even the Slytherins seemed to be admiring the skill it had taken. At that moment, the four boys walked in, and were greeted with a large round of applause. They took bows, enjoying the limelight, and James waved his wand and glittering words appeared above his head.

_The Marauders would like to wish everyone a happy, relaxed, and stress free April Fool's Day. Enjoy!_

Everyone clapped once more, and some of the Slytherins even called out their compliments. James caught sight of Lily waving at him from about midway in the hall. Smiling broadly at the sight of her, he immediately bounded towards her, Peter and Remus following behind at a more sedate pace. Sirius also started to follow them, but a few blankets in, one of the Hufflepuff sixth years gave him such a fetching smile, that he found himself stopping there to enjoy his breakfast, as well as a bit of flirting with a pretty girl.

"I think those boys are growing up," Pomona gave a small smile.

Nodding his head in agreement, Filius replied, "I hope so for the sake of my sanity."

Albus nodded his head too as he said, "I think we should celebrate this new found maturity," casting Sonorous on himself he addressed the rest of the school, "ATTENTION STUDENTS, PLEASE, FOR A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS. AFTERNOON CLASSES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. INSTEAD, WE WILL BE HOSTING SEVERAL PICK-UP GAMES OF QUIDDITCH, OPEN TO EVERYONE; IN KEEPING WITH OUR STRESS-FREE DAY OF RELAXATION. THANK YOU."

Immediately, cheers and applause broke out, and several students went over to James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus to congratulate them on their 'prank' which had led to the 'stress-free day of relaxation' for them all. The teachers also shared looks because one, they were happy that the students were so happy, and two, because they had their day free from lessons, and could also relax.

As soon as breakfast ended, Fred immediately headed for the quidditch pitch, as did a number of students. Hermione met up with Lily and several of the other seventh year girls, and they made their way to the pitch, but to watch and not to play. As they seated themselves, they noticed the boys had already split up into teams. They Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had merged their two teams, picking the best players from each. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws had done the same. Fred became the self-proclaimed referee. Hermione knew that Fred was an experienced player, but as he flew around, she couldn't keep her heart from jumping to her throat each time he performed some risky maneuver as he tried to stay away from bludgers.

When their game finally ended, with the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff team winning, it was nearing lunchtime. Everyone headed back towards the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione didn't follow the crowd though, she wanted to wait for Fred.

"Ready to go?" Fred asked as he finished washing up.

"Yeah. I wonder if the marauders have planned anything else for today?" She mused.

"Well, you never know with those four, but I'd say no. I think they're content with what they did already," Fred replied absently.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, of course, why?"

"Your mind seems to keep wandering."

"I've just got something on my mind," Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing bad, don't worry. It'll be resolved by the end of the day."

"Okay. You know where to find me if you need to talk," she gave his hand a squeeze.

Later that evening, Hermione and Fred made their way down to the Great Hall. Before they could enter, Fred pulled Hermione off to the side, "I thought we could have our own special picnic outside."

Smiling, Hermione nodded in agreement and followed him. Fred led her to a tree by the side of the lake where she had often sat with Harry and Ron when it wan't occupied by other students. She fondly remembered a particularly hot afternoon when Fred and George were swimming in the lake having a water fight while the three of them watched on and cheered.

"I won you know," Fred whispered over her shoulder.

Turning around to face him, she replied, "Only after George slipped. How did you know what I was thinking about anyway? Just because we can communicate telepathically doesn't mean you can read my mind."

"I'm your husband, I'm supposed to know what you're thinking."

"Then what am I thinking about now?"

"How handsome I am."

"Close, but not quite."

"I give up, what are you thinking about," Fred asked.

Pulling a present out of her pocket, Hermione handed it to Fred. Smirking at what she was thinking about, Fred took the present and opened it. His eyes widened as he saw what Hermione had given him. "Is this my old watch?"

"Yeah, I thought I would get it fixed since it broke in the explosion. I know how much it means to you; George has a matching one."

Wrapping her in a tight hug, Fred gave her a kiss and said, "Thank you so much, Hermione, this is the best birthday present ever. I really wish I had gotten you something better for your birthday."

The two of them stood hugging each other for a couple more moments before they broke apart and sat down to eat.

Halfway through their meal, Hermione asked, "When do you think James married Lily?"

"I think it was about a year after they graduated, why?" Fred asked in return.

"Well, I was just thinking. Lily hated James for years and she ended up marrying him. I was just wondering how long it took her to marry him. If you really think about it, she spent more time hating him than loving him; they missed out on so much," Hermione responded, adding the last part in with a whisper.

Wrapping his arm around Hermione's shoulder, Fred pulled her closer towards him. "Just think of all the good that they did. We both know better than anyone that their sacrifice was one of the best things that could have happened for the wizarding world."

Snuggling deeper into his shoulder, she replied, "I know, I just can't stop thinking about how much they almost remind me of us. I never hated you like she did him and you didn't spend your years trying to woo me. But, before we got married and fell in love, I hated pranks and you loved to pull them."

"Hermione, we're not going to die anytime soon. Harry defeated Voldemort; we're safe."

"Not here we aren't. Dumbledore just started the Order. I heard McGonagall muttering to herself about it in the hallway the other day."

"You think Dumbledore is going to try to recruit us?"

"No, he won't want to mess up the time line. Think about what would happen if we accidentally let something slip during a meeting. They might think that we're the Death Eaters."

Sighing, Fred turned to look out towards the lake, "Remember how eager we were to join the Order. I'm glad that mum kept us out for as long as she did. Looking back, I can't stop but cringing at all the stupid things that we did. Especially you."

"Me?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"You broke into Gringotts and stole a dragon," Fred stated as if that explained everything.

"You practically blew up Hogwarts with fireworks."

Waving his hand in a motion that made her statement seem meaningless, Fred pulled Hermione onto his lap and said, "It doesn't matter who did what. All that matters is how we feel about it now," Fred said, pausing before he continued, "I know that I feel scared about all the times you came close to being killed. Had we been going out before everything happened, I would have been out of my mind with worry at all of the crazy things you did."

Looking up at Fred, Hermione responded, "I feel the same way. If something had happened to you, I'm not sure what I would have done if we were going out. I sure wouldn't have been able to concentrate on finding the Horcruxes."

"So despite how backwards we are on the whole falling in love and getting married, we both agree that we're crazy about each other."

"Yes, we are both crazy about each other."

Lifting Hermione up to her feet, Fred got back down - this time on one knee with a ring held out in front of him. "I know I'm not the best when it comes to wording things or being romantic, but will you, Hermione Granger, Myra Wilson, which ever name you choose to be, continue to be my wife forever and always."

Hermione stared at Fred with her jaw hanging slack. Seeing Fred's nervousness, she replied, "No."

"What?" Fred asked in a surprised tone, slightly jumping back.

"April Fools. I love you, Fred Weasley, of course I'll stay with you," Hermione responded, giggling.

Staring back up at Hermione trying to decide what her final answer really was, Fred smiled when he saw that she did want to stay as his wife. "Don't do that to me. Every man has nightmares about being rejected. All I heard was the 'no' and I wanted to faint or runaway or something."

Pulling Fred back up to his feet, Hermione said, "I would never do that to you. We've been through a lot, we've survived it all, and it brought us together. I wouldn't want to change a thing."

Fred slipped a gold ring with three small diamonds onto her ring finger, replacing the one that Dumbledore had provided for them. Then he pulled a second one out of his pocket - a simple gold band similar to his first one - and slipped it on his finger. Taking Hermione back into his arms, Fred whispered into her ear, "I love you, Hermione Weasley."

"I love you too, Fred Wea..." Hermione started before she drifted off and became slack in Fred's grasp.

Supporting her so that she wouldn't fall, Fred was able to maneuver her so that he was holding her bridal style. "Hermione! Hermione! Wake up!"

When she didn't wake up, Fred took off running towards the castle for help. He silently thanked Merlin that the castle doors remained open, despite the fact that curfew was long past. Bursting through the doors of the hospital wing, Fred yelled, "Poppy, you've got to help us! Something's wrong with Myra!"

Rushing out of her room at the sound of Fred shouting, Madame Pomfrey flew over towards Hermione and gently helped Fred lay her down in a bed. "What's wrong with her?" Fred asked nervously.

"Dragon Pox," Madame Pomfrey said immediately, "another student just left for St. Mungo's with it. Your wife must have caught it. Has she had it before?"

"I don't think so; she's muggle-born."

"You're lucky you came here this quickly. Otherwise, I don't think the cure would work and she would have had to go to St. Mungo's too."

"So she's going to be okay?"

"I can assure you, Mr. Wilson, that you wife is in the best care possible," Madame Pomfrey assured Fred as she poured a potion into Hermione's mouth.

Instantly, Hermione started to look better her normal skin color was starting to shine through the pale green that had taken over her face and the small purple bumps were fading away. Fred sank into the chair next to her bed, unable to stand. Pomfrey took her temperature and then left so that the two of them could have privacy when Hermione woke up.

Two hours later, Hermione started groaning and clutching her leg. Waking up from the light sleep he was in, Fred jumped up and held Hermione. "Hermione? Hermione, what's wrong?"

When she didn't answer, Fred ran towards Pomfrey's room and started knocking on the door furiously. Throwing the door open, Madame Pomfrey was about to yell at whoever woke her up. Upon seeing Fred's anxious face, she completely forgot that she was ever asleep. Fred pulled her by the hand and dragged her over towards Hermione. Once she saw the state that she was in, Madame Pomfrey pushed past Fred and made her own way over to Hermione.

Madame Pomfrey checked Hermione over with several diagnostic spells before she ran over to the fireplace. Worried about what was wrong with Hermione, Fred followed behind her. Unfortunately, Pomfrey had her head in the fire before he could even ask what was wrong. Several minutes later, she came back out of the fire and turned towards Fred. Feeling more worried than he already was, Fred asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"It's really rare but some people have an allergic reaction to the Dragon Pox Cure. Your wife has formed a blood clot in her thigh and it's cutting off the blood supply to the surrounding muscles. I need to take her to St. Mungo's so that they can remove the clot, hopefully none of her muscles have died yet."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get her out of here."

"I'm sorry, Greg, but you can't come. You'll be in the way and someone needs to tell Professor Dumbledore in the morning."

"Can't we just send him a note? I'm not leaving my wife!"

"Greg Wilson! Unless you are a trained Healer you won't be allowed anywhere near your wife until everything is finished. Now, I suggest that the best thing for you to do is to take a Dreamless Sleep Potion and in the morning you can tell Albus what has happened. Hopefully, by then your wife will be all fixed up and you can visit."

Cowing under the severity of her words, Fred reluctantly nodded his head in agreement with her words as she shoved a potion into his hands. Glancing to see if she was watching him, Fred saw that she wasn't going to move until he drank the potion. Taking one last look at Hermione, Fred made his way over to the bed next to her and downed the potion in one gulp. Giving off a satisfied mumble, Pomfrey conjured a stretcher and lifted Hermione onto it. The last thing that Fred saw before he fell asleep, was Hermione leaving the castle through green flames.

The next morning, Fred woke up and looked around the Hospital Wing for Hermione in hopes that she had come back from St. Mungo's. Seeing that she wasn't back, Fred felt a heavy weight drop onto his chest. Fred ran his hand through his hair and looked towards the door. Slowly he made his way out of bed and down the halls. He made his way to the Great Hall in a thick haze, not even noticing the greetings that students gave him as he passed by.

When he finally made it to the hall, the loud buzzing of the students brought him out of his haze. Moving faster than he previously was, Fred walked to the front table and stopped in front of Dumbledore. "Sir, may I speak with you in private?"

"Of course, is something wrong?" Dumbledore asked as he got up from his chair and made his way to the door behind the table.

Following him, Fred nodded his head, afraid that if he said what happened out loud, it would actually be true. Once they were both in the back room and the door was closed, Fred took a deep breath and explained everything to him. When he was finished, Dumbledore gave a grave nod and said, "I understand, I'll cancel your classes for the next two days so that you can be with your wife. Why don't you go and freshen up before you visit her. The floo powder is right over there."

"Thank you, sir," Fred said gratefully.

A couple of short hours later, Fred was sitting beside Hermione's bed holding her hand. Hermione was smiling and joking around about how their students were going to forget everything that they learned over the last few months. Fred was laughing at Hermione and how her jokes seemed to have an underlying truth in them, at least for her.

Then the Healer finally came in to give them a report about how Hermione was doing. Nervously, Fred introduced himself and shook his hand, finding out that the Healer's name was Darren. With a heavy sigh, the Healer informed them, "Poppy Pomfrey told me that she informed you about your wife's allergic reaction, correct?" Seeing Fred nod in reply he continued, "The blood clot in her thigh was successfully removed before it could travel to her heart or brain. Unfortunately, some muscle damage was incurred. We were able to remove the dead muscle. However, this means you won't be able to walk properly. You'll most likely need to use a cane in order to get around."

Both Hermione and Fred were silent through the whole exchange. Noticing that they needed time to absorb the new information, Healer Darren excused himself from the room. Fred sat down next to Hermione and lifted her onto his lap. When he felt her shoulders shake in silent sobs, he kissed her on her forehead and stroked her hair. "We've been through so much, Fred. Who would have thought that the thing to finally injure me like this would be my own body?"

"Hermione, sweetheart, I don't care what happens to you. I'll still love you."

"I'll be like a little old lady, walking with a cane."

"Hey, if your really that worried about this, when we get back home, to the future, we can look into the newer medicines. You and I know how much a difference twenty-two years can make."

"I know, I know. But what about the students here? What will they think?"

**"Since when did the invincible, time traveling Hermione Weasley ever care about what others thought?"** Fred though to her.

Giggling and realizing that he was right, Hermione leaned into his embrace and wiped her tears away. She had never felt sorry for herself before, excluding her first year at Hogwarts when Ron insulted her, and she wasn't about to start now. Giving Fred a chaste kiss, she thought back, **"Thanks."**

**"Just remember that if any of the students get out of line you can whack them as much as you want. Or, you could pull a McGonagall and give your cane to Peeves so that he can whack people."**

Laughing loudly for the first time in days, Hermione gave Fred a small shove, **"Who told you about that? You weren't even there."**

**"Ron was quite proud of the fact that George and I had such an influence on Peeves, no matter how bad it was."**

Snorting at that comment, Hermione got off of Fred's lap ready to take a nap, the effects of the emotional roller coaster finally taking it's toll on her.

A week later Hermione was back in class teaching, showing her Gryffindor courage by taking all of the sympathetic well wishing and letting them roll off her. She didn't want to feel bad for herself and she didn't want others to feel bad for her either. She knew that she was a strong woman and that she could make it through anything.

Thankfully, the last two months of school went by quickly and school would be out in a week. Ever since her stay at the hospital, Fred had spent all of his time trying to find a way back home. At first, Hermione was thankful for all of his effort, but lately she was starting to feel lonely without him. She had gotten so use to having him around and making her smile that it felt boring without him.

During one of the last days of class Hermione was sitting at her desk grading papers when James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus came in for their class. Despite their quite conversation, Hermione could still hear them. "I'm glad Professor Myra is back. Professor Greg seemed so lost without her, even if it was only for two class periods," Lily said.

"It just means he's whipped," Sirius replied.

Chuckling, Remus reminded him, "Yeah, but he is so in love with Professor Myra that he doesn't mind."

"I think it's so romantic. It just proves how much he loves her," Lily said.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius said, "Well, it's a good thing you found a guy who would do anything for you."

"Hey, that's not true. I don't do everything," James protested.

Scoffing, Lily replied, "If that was true, then you would have stopped all of that pranking of yours years ago."

"Have you noticed that Professor Greg hasn't been around as much?" Remus cut in, changing the subject.

"Yeah, he usually shows up right before class and he's always tired," James replied.

Looking around the room, Lily saw that they were right, "Maybe he's trying to make one last final prank for you guys. That last one was pretty funny."

"Turning into a giant canary during the middle of dinner is anything but funny, Lily," Sirius said, frowning.

"And do you know how paranoid I am that my wand is going to turn into a rubber fish?" James put in.

"I liked that one," Remus said smiling.

"I just don't get it. Why doesn't he fall for any of our pranks," Sirius huffed.

Deciding to enter the conversation, Hermione interjected, "Because he has ears everywhere. He can hear all of your plans."

"Really?" James and Sirius asked in awe.

"Yep, it's impossible to get away from them too. Trust me I've tried, there even outside of the castle," Hermione answered.

Remus scrunched his brows together and asked, "Why would he do that?"

" 'Cause he can?" Hermione said with a shrug.

Shifting in his seat, James leaned forward and asked, "So just because he can do something, he did it?"

"No, there's other reasons, but you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," Hermione responded back.

"Try us," Lily challenged.

Smirking, Hermione said, "We're travelers with enemies," thinking about how it wasn't a total lie.

"So Death Eaters are after you?" Sirius asked excitedly.

Laughing, Hermione said, "Not the kind of Death Eaters you're thinking about."

"So you're really on the run?" Lily asked, surprise tinting her voice.

"No, we're not on the run. Remember in the beginning of the year when you were asking us questions? We said that we had been in our fair share of fights as we experienced the Dark Arts first hand," Hermione said with a sad smile.

Tentatively, Remus asked, "So now you have enemies chasing after you?"

"No, I'm positive that we have none chasing us. Greg only started placing ears around the castle after that one incident," Hermione said cryptically once she noticed that most of the class was listening to the conversation.

"So do you have any cool scars?" Sirius asked bluntly.

Lily and Remus smacked him on the back of the head as Hermione cringed at the thought. Grudgingly, Hermione replied, "Do you also remember how we told you to expect the unexpected and how to always be prepared? Once, when I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I got into some trouble. Next thing I know I'm hit with an unknown curse and one of my best friends is being strangled to death by memories."

"Memories?" Lily asked doubtfully.

"As fictional as it sounds, I can assure you that memories are a powerful thing. In fact, why don't I show you how powerful a happy memory can be," Hermione announced to the class.

Hermione grabbed her cane, something she highly despised, and walked to the front of the class room. Giving her wand a firm swish, she cast a Patronus. Her silver otter danced around her before she tapped it's head and sent it out of the room. The class remained silent with awe as they watched Hermione. None of them had ever seen something as beautiful as the silver otter. Lily, being as curious as she was, raised her hand and asked, "What was that?"

Still smiling from the memory she had thought of - her and Fred dancing on the London Showboat - Hermione replied, "That is known as a Patronus. It repels Dementors and Lethifolds. The only way to cast it is if you have a strong, happy memory in place as you say the incantation Expecto Patronum."

"Can we try?" James asked, bouncing in his seat.

"Only until Professor Greg comes, which I'm estimating to be about..." Hermione started.

**"Give me twenty more minutes,"** Fred thought back, obviously listening in through their mind link.

"Twenty minutes," Hermione informed the class.

Jumping up from their seats the students immediately started trying to cast their own Patroni. Laughing at their eagerness, Hermione announced, "Before you start, let me tell you a few things. Your memory must be the single most happiest memory in your entire life. Furthermore, your Patroni may all be different. The animal that is your Patronus is unique to each person. Lastly, remember that this is a very powerful spell. Students are not expected to get a corporeal Patronus. Conjuring a silvery mist is already very advanced."

Listening to her every word, the students nodded and set to work casting their Patroni. Hermione watched them as she copied Harry's movements by walking around the class and helping those who needed it. The short twenty minutes seemed faster than they really were. Both Hermione and the students were having fun trying to cast the spell. When Fred finally did show up, the class begged Hermione and Fred to let them continue their work. Caving to the demand, they decided that it wouldn't do any harm to teach them about the Patronus.

Fred even decided to show the class his own. Like Hermione, he too cast a silent spell and out came a silver otter - one slightly bigger than Hermione's. "Well, that's new," Fred thought aloud.

"What do you mean?" A student towards the middle of the class asked.

Scratching his head, Fred replied, "Well normally my Patronus is a lemur. But ... it's changed."

"Tonks," Hermione whispered to Fred.

Fred cocked his head to the side and asked, "What?"

Turning to face the class who was now watching them with rapt attention, Hermione said, "A friend of ours had her Patronus change too. The cause of it was that she fell in love and her Patronus turned into one that matched her husband's."

"Well, I guess this just shows you how much I love you," Fred said with a goofy grin.

"I love you too," Hermione responded, fully meaning it.

"tydyes wants the readers to know that they're loved too. Especially for all of the reviews," they both said simultaneously, making each other laugh.

**REVIEW! (AND/OR FLAME PLEASE)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing ... no characters ... not even the story line - it belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight so if you want to read the original go to BlueRosesAtMidnight's profile. Thank BlueRoses for the wonderful story while you're at it.**

**This will stick close to canon but also be slightly AU because I want a certain event, teachers, and Fred to be in it so if you don't like it suck it up.**

**I live off of reviews so if you don't review, I die. Don't become a murder, spare a review.**

If there was one thing that Hermione wished Hogwarts had, it would have been a graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, such things were not common in the magical world. It was the end of the year feast and Hermione and Fred were sitting at the head table in order not to play favorites for their last meal. Hermione picked up her wine glass and saw her reflection on the surface of her pumpkin juice. It had taken her a while to get use to her new bright green eyes and her auburn hair, but she knew that when she went back, she would miss them. Suddenly a thought hit her, **"Fred, how come the Morphing Mints never wore off?"**

Thinking for a moment, Fred responded, **"They were a new prototype, they were supposed to last longer than the old ones. I think that something in the explosion made them semi-permanent. I did some experiments on them and if we take some normal ones when we get back, we should turn back to normal."**

Sighing in relief, Hermione gave a slight nod of her head and continued with her meal, thankful that she wouldn't have to explain her new appearance to her parents.

About a half hour later, when everyone was about to start on dessert, Dumbledore stood up and waited for the hall to quiet down. "I know that this is not normally when I give this speech but I fear that if I wait any longer Professors Greg and Myra will be late for their trip."

Hermione almost jumped in her seat, she knew that Fred was nearing a break through with the time travel potion but she didn't think he was this close. Glancing at Fred, Hermione could see his wide smirk and knew that he had planned this to be a surprise the whole time. Scoffing, Hermione plastered a grin on her face and waved out at the students. Even from her seat, she could hear the students lamenting. She was sure that they would miss her as much as she was going to miss them. She had found teaching to be a wonderful experience and she was starting to think about becoming a teacher instead of joining the ministry like she previously planned.

Letting the murmurs die down once again, Dumbledore continued, "I for one know that I will sorely miss my new friends, for they have had an impact on Hogwarts that I'm sure no one will forget. I wish both of you success with whatever the future may hold."

As he finished his speech, students around the hall stood up and began clapping for Hermione and Fred. Both stood up with wide smiles and waved back their gratitude; Fred even threw out an air kiss. Just as the clapping died down, Sirius stood up and yelled, "Speech!" with several others following him. Fred held is hand up in acceptance and nodded his head towards Hermione to start. Giving him a small glare in reply, Hermione faced the Great Hall and said, "This year, as you all know, has been my first year teaching. I want to start out by thanking all of you for making it one of my best years ever," at this point Hermione was so worked up with emotion that she almost added 'at Hogwarts'.

"I know that at times this has probably been one of the more ... eccentric years for many of you. However, I know for a fact that despite it turning out to be something that reads like a script to some WWN soap opera, I will never forget it."

Seeing Hermione starting to tear up, Fred took over, "One of my favorite things when I went to school was Quidditch, but it was nothing compared to what it was like here. All of you put you heart and soul into the game and that is something you should never give up. Always put your all into things and you'll never fail. Even if you do, you can try again and laugh at your mistakes.

"I, like my wife, would like to thank you for making this an amazing year for me. I will never forget you and if we happen to see each other in the future, you can bet your pocket money I'll see how well you were paying attention to us in class," Fred paused letting the laughter die down as both he and Hermione grabbed onto the back of their chairs, dizziness making it almost impossible to stand - the students not noticing anything different.

"Unfortunately, since my wife and I aren't very good at saying goodbye, I decided that this would probably be a good time for us to leave. So for one last time, Good Bye Hogwarts!"

Hermione snapping her head up despite the dizziness that she was feeling and shouted, "YOU SPIKED MY DRINK AGAIN DIDN'T YOU!"

Before Fred could even answer, both of them instantly disappeared. A few of the student jumped in surprise, a few stood up to see where they had gone, and the rest were set abuzz by what had happened.

Standing back up, Dumbledore said with a chuckle, "Do not worry, Professor Greg just wanted to surprise his wife. And if I must say so, he did quite a good job. Although, I wouldn't have messed with her drink if I were him, she didn't seem to like that." Laughing, the students merely nodded their heads and continued on with the feast, imagining the torture that Professor Greg would receive as a result.

On the other side of the 'prank', Fred and Hermione felt as if they were free falling off an impossibly high building. Had there been any air in her lungs, Hermione would have been screaming. Fred didn't want to scream, he wanted to laugh; it felt as if he was swooping downwards on his broom, a feeling he sorely missed. An eternity later for Hermione and too soon for Fred, they once again had their feet on solid ground.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione rounded on Fred, lifted her cane above her head, and shouted, "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE MY DRINKS ALONE!"

"OW, Myra! Stop hitting me! It's not my fault it was Dumbledore's idea!" Fred cried.

Suddenly to their left, they heard, "Myra? Greg?"

Hermione stopped her beating and looked for the familiar voice. Before she could find the owner of the voice, she heard a loud chuckle from Fred as he said, "Minerva, you've gotten older," Hermione snapped her head back towards him.

"GREG! Don't ... Be ... Rude!" She yelled at him again, making sure to hit him with each word.

"How many times do I have to tell you! Your cane is meant for hitting students, not me!"

"I wouldn't have to hit you all the time if you just listened to me!"

McGonagall, not wanting to have to take him to the infirmary, cut in and asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"We told you, we wanted to do some traveling," Fred said with a playful smile.

Straightening up in shock, Professor McGonagall looked at the two of them in shock. Behind her, Professor Flitwick let out a loud, nervous giggle, "You two always did the extraordinary. This really shouldn't come as a surprise."

Giving a large grin, Fred replied, "Well, we have one more surprise for you."

Fred than took Hermione's hand and lead her out from behind the head table and to the front of the Great Hall. Looking around, he spotted a group of red heads and his smile grew even more. He then searched all of his pockets and after a few moments, he pulled out a small tin. He opened it, took out two mints, handed one of them to Hermione, and said with his biggest smile, "For once this isn't a joke."

Together, Hermione and Fred popped a mint into their mouth. Slowly, they started to shift in appearance and before everyone in the hall realized what was happening, they were back to what they originally looked like. Immediately, all of the older teachers jumped up from where they were sitting out of pure astonishment at what they were seeing. Two of their favorite and most memorable colleagues turned into two of their most memorable students - Hermione Granger, the smartest witch her age, and Fred Weasley, a prankster who could give the Marauders a run for their money.

Professor Sprout, the first to recover, let out an uncharacteristically girlish squeal and ran around the head table towards Hermione and Fred, enveloping them in a bear-like hug. Her actions seemed to wake the other professors from their stupor and they rushed from their seats, surrounding the time travelers. Then like a damn breaking free, a mob of red heads rushed forward through the crowd - a particularly small, plump woman leading the way.

Pushing Professor Sprout from her son, Mrs. Weasley cried, "Fred! My baby, I've missed you so much!"

Hermione stood off to the side smiling at the happy reunion, wishing that her own parents weren't still under the spell that she put on them. At that moment, she felt a reassuring presence on either side of her and was pleasantly surprised to see Ron and Harry standing next to her. Smiling as if she owned the world, Harry said, "So, I heard you went on quite an adventure without us. How was it without me saving the day?"

Laughing in reply, Hermione responded, "You and Ron got to have your own life changing adventures, I thought it was time that I had mine," referencing all of Harry's death duals and Ron's brief abandonment last year.

Grinning, Ron said, "I would have thought that you would have been tired of those by now."

"You would think so. Unfortunately, fate had other plans," Hermione jested.

"Yeah, that seems to happen a lot around us doesn't it?" Harry replied jokingly.

Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders and answered, "As long as the three of us are together, I'm pretty sure we can handle anything that comes our way."

McGonagall's voice halted their conversation as she announced, "I think it would be more prudent if we moved this conversation to a side chamber don't you agree?"

Once the recently reunited time travelers and their family and friends were separated from the curious eyes of the students, the questioning began with Mrs. Weasley leading, "Tell me exactly what happened and don't even think about skipping over details."

Sighing, Fred started to explain how the whole accident happened. Once he got to the explosion, Hermione took over and told everyone about how they time traveled into the past and became teachers, making sure to leave out the exact date they traveled to. Once she was done with the story, George was the first to speak, laughing all the while, "Are you telling me that my twin brother, owner of the most successful joke shop ever, became a teacher!"

Smirking, Fred replied, "I'm a very talented person, thank you very much."

At this point Bill asked the question Hermione had been dreading the most, "What's with the cane? Did you get hurt?"

Immediately Hermione froze up and Fred put an arm around her, a gesture that the whole room noticed. Squirming under the curious gazes, Hermione replied, "I had a bad reaction to the Dragon Pox antidote. I lost some of the muscles in my leg."

Letting out a breathe that he couldn't remember holding, Harry said, "At least it's something fixable."

Snapping her attention towards him, she blurted out, "What do you mean?"

"You can regrow muscles and stuff now. Neville had a chunk of his arm bitten off by one of his plants the other day and Pomfrey had to heal 'em up," Ron responded.

Taken aback in surprise, Hermione mutely stared at Ron as if she could gather all the information from him that way. Fred, feeling Hermione's disbelief, gave her shoulders a squeeze and said quietly, "See, I told you that they would have found a cure. We'll go see Madame Pomfrey once we're done here."

"There's no need for that Mr. Weasley; I came as soon as I heard. Time travel is always a risky thing to mess with but you just had to add in an explosion. Now I know you were perfectly healthy when you left but Merlin knows what you could had done to yourselves since then," a voice said from the front of the room near the door.

"Poppy!" Hermione cried.

"Yes, yes, I know. I have it right here. Normally I would take you to the infirmary and have you take this there, but we had a bad outbreak of the flu last week and I don't want you anywhere near there," Pomfrey said as she walked over to Hermione and handed her a vial, "Now, I want you to sip this slowly. Unlike Skele Gro, which Mr. Potter can attest to, this won't hurt. You need to grow nerves back along with your muscles and if you felt that, you would die from the pain."

Eyeing the potion carefully, Hermione muttered, "I see."

"Come on, Hermione, where's that Gryffindor spirit?" Fred teased.

"Out flying a broom," Hermione shot back.

Taking a hesitant sniff of the potion, Hermione downed it in one gulp, trying to taste as little of it as possible. Fred gave Hermione a tight hug before letting her go as the rest of the Weasley clan swamped her.

Buried under several people, Hermione almost missed Madame Pomfry's next words, "You'll need the cane until tomorrow morning, but, I can fully assure you that you'll be back to normal."

At this, Hermione began to wonder what normal was for her. For the past two months normal was walking with a cane and a limp. For the past year normal was lying to everyone around her. The year before that, it was hiding in the woods and changing camping spots daily. It seemed that ever since she came to the wizarding world nothing in her life seemed normal anymore and her head started to spin at the though of what normal meant to her.

Luckily, Fred pulled Hermione away from the various bone crushing hugs that she was getting and wrapped his own arms around her. "I think Hermione has had enough to take in for one day. I'm tired, and I can only imagine how Hermione must be feeling right now. How about we call it an early night and turn in?"

Ginny, not able to hold herself back, asked, "Why are you guys so close?"

"We did spend a whole year away from everyone that we know," Fred stated, not answering the question.

"I know that, but what I mean is why are you wearing matching wedding bands?" Ginny replied, rolling her eyes.

Both Fred and Hermione blushed redder than any Weasley had before. All attention had been redirected to their ring fingers. "Hermione ... what are you wearing?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Well, ... you see ..." Fred stuttered, unsure of how he should respond.

Hermione, gathering up all of her dignity and courage, said, "We're married."

Silence permeated the air as she made that statement. The only one who didn't seem taken aback by this news was Madame Pomfrey who silently made her way to the door leading out to the Great Hall. However, luck was not on her side and as soon as she opened the door, Mrs. Weasley yelled, "MARRIED! YOU TWO GOT MARRIED!"

Fred and Hermione winced at her reaction, knowing that the door was open. Thankfully, Pomfrey had the tact to leave as quick as possible and soundly shut the door. Glancing at each other for moral support, Fred and Hermione knew that they would have to tell them the whole truth. Hermione snuggled in closer to Fred and said, "When we got caught up in the explosion we must have traded blood. From what Fred told me and from the research we did, this bonded us. I was still confused though, because I'm almost positive that Harry, Ron, and I have accidentally swapped blood before and we aren't bond. So we did some more research and found that the bond only forms if we are compatible with each other. Unfortunately, I don't know if it means in magic, personality, or something else entirely."

Fred, wanting to explain the rest, continued, "After a while it just didn't matter to us. We were able to rely on this bond and it helped us adjust to our new surroundings. Eventually, Hermione and I really did fall in love and ... I asked her to stay married to me."

Mrs. Weasley, who had been silent through the entire speech, gave a loud cry and wrapped both Hermione and Fred into her arms. Sobbing from happiness, she said, "Welcome to the family, Hermione. Thank you for taking such good care of my son. I know that the two of you will be perfect together."

Laughing at his mothers dramatics, Fred said, "Mum, like I said earlier, we're both happy to see you but we're really tired. We need to go lie down."

"Of course, I'm sorry. Where are you going to stay though?" She asked in reply.

"I suppose we can try our old room and if that doesn't work then we'll just stay in the Room of Requirements," Hermione suggested.

Everyone nodded their head and murmured in agreement. The rest of the Weasley's were staying at the Hog's Head in Hogsmead since they were allowed special permission to visit. They didn't want to question Hermione's suggestion though. Today had been a long day for everyone involved and fighting over where everyone would sleep would be useless.

"Tomorrow's going to be a long day," Hermione commented to Fred as they walked to their room.

"Yep, we can't seem to catch any breaks recently," Fred replied, stopping in front of their room.

"Time travel," Hermione said tiredly at the unicorn, who instantly walked away from the wall.

The rest of the school took Hermione and Fred's return and their unexpected news as well as could be expected. Rumors flew around the Great Hall the next morning ranging from elopement to estranged teenage lovers finally reunited after the war. Fred's favorite was a rumor where he had kidnapped Hermione the night before school was to start, professed his love for her, and effectively wooed Hermione off her feet. Hermione's favorite was one where Fred was a death eater spy who couldn't show his love for her until the war was over. Had they not been glad for the rumors, the next morning would have been a disaster having to lie to everyone again; the world wasn't ready for extended time travel.

As Hermione went to leave the hall, listening to more rumors circulate, she was stopped by a swarm of red and yellow clad girls that dragged her off to the side and into an empty classroom. "Hermione Granger, you better tell us the truth right now. Are you or are you not married to Fred Weasley?" a voice to her left said.

Still dazed and reeling at the ferocity of being pulled away as quickly as she was, Hermione answered shakily, "Yes, I am."

Loud pitched squeals and giggles followed as soon as she finished, her thoughts losing what small order they had been put in. Quickly, she focused on her surroundings, foregoing all thoughts. She was surprised to find that she had been kidnapped by all of the Gryffindor girls in her year (before the war) and a handful of girls a year below her including Ginny, who was standing away from the other girls. "Well? Are you going to tell us what happened?"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You were gone for a year without contact and then you suddenly show up under odd circumstances, married; how can we not be curious as to what happened?" Lavender Brown demanded, surprising Hermione at how much she had changed since she last saw her. It wasn't that surprising though, two years and a war have a way of changing people from being a baby-talking airhead to an eloquent gossiper.

Scoffing, Ginny cut in, "Really guys, I doubt what happened has any relation to all of you."

"We didn't get to talk to her like you did last night Ginny. And it does concern us; Hermione is our friend and we want the best for her." Parvati shot back.

"I would appreciate it if you had asked me in a more suitable manner. All that really matters is that Fred was traveling with me for the past year helping me with a personal matter. Along the way we fell in love and we couldn't tell our families until last night. So I would appreciate it if you let me go, I have other things to do," Hermione demanded.

"Just a few more questions we promise," Amy Sill, a girl from Ginny's, year begged.

Sighing, Hermione knew that if she said anything it would be passed around the school before lunch was even over. Then an idea hit her. If she told them now, then she could dispel any rumors and not have another surprise meeting like this again. Nodding her head in acceptance, Hermione said, "Fine, but keep it quick."

Another round of giggles and squeals were issued and the questioning began. "Where were you? Why did Fred go with you? What did you do? Why did it take so long?"

"Girls, quiet down! I think it might go faster if I just explain what happened," Hermione stated, instantly regretting her decision.

Thinking quickly, she called out to Fred, **"Hey, you should listen incase you get cornered too."**

**"Don't worry, Hermione, I'm here for you,"** Fred reassured her.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione said, "When the fighting had all settled down, Fred, George, and I were supposed to come here to Hogwarts. I was going to study and the twins were going to work on new pranks. Unfortunately, something went wrong and Fred and I were hurt. We had to go away to heal. While we were away, we fell in love and ... well ... you heard the rest," she finished, blushing beet red.

"So that's why you had the cane! I thought you got into another Death Eater fight or something," one of the girls commented.

Nodding her head, Hermione was grateful she now had an excuse for what happened. "That's it! That's what that weird stain must be!" Lavender cried out suddenly.

Parvati started to jump up and down clapping her hands, yelling, "I knew it! As soon as I heard that the Weasley twins were here over the summer, I knew that they had to have done something!"

"What?" Hermione asked, confused at how a stain tied into everything.

Ginny, taking pity on Hermione said, "The accident left the Potions classroom with a wonderful new stain. It looks like Grawp threw up on the ceiling."

A look of comprehension dawned on Hermione's face seconds before she was asked a new question, "What were they working on? Oh, I know! I bet it was one of their new candies. Which one was it, Hermione?"

"Um," Hermione stalled not knowing any of the new candies.

**"George says to tell them Singing Sauce. He's been busy since we left,"** Fred cut into Hermione's thoughts.

**"Singing Sauce,"** she said automatically.

"That's what it was like before they sold it?" A younger girl said in disgust.

Rolling her eyes, Ginny decided to speak up again, "Not everything looks pretty before it's packaged."

"But we eat that stuff," she responded.

Hermione, breaking up the fight, said, "I guess this was an early version of it. I'm not to sure how they perfected it afterwards. You have to remember, what they sell doesn't explode," 'or send you into the past', Hermione thought warily.

"So what are you going to do now? Judging by the stain and how long you were gone, that accident cost you a whole year of schooling. Are you going to try repeating seventh year again?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Hermione answered instantly, she had never given it though since her departure was so sudden.

**"I can help you with that,"** Fred thought to Hermione with amusement, **"Just tell them that you're going to be a domestic housewife to your wonderfully handsome husband."**

**"Not likely,"** Hermione shot back instantly.

Hearing him laugh, Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at him. Then becoming serious again, he replied, "**Professor McGonagall wants to talk to us in her office; password is 'Flutterby'."**

Silently thanking Fred for the excuse to leave, Hermione got as far away from them as fast as she could, making it to the Headmistress' office in record time. When she opened the door she was surprised to find McGonagall and Fred playing Exploding Snap. Looking up, Fred saw that Hermione had entered, unfortunately, it cause him have the cards explode on him. Together all three of them laughed, a feeling of happiness easily making its way around the room.

Once they had all finished laughing at Fred's expense, McGonagall said, "I called you both here to ask you for help. This year, we were spread thin for Professors and a couple even had to teach several classes. I was wondering if you two would like to come back and teach again? If you do, I was hoping Fred could take over Madame Hooch's position, while Hermione would take the Defense position."

Hermione's jaw fell open in shock. Continue teaching? She wanted to scream yeas and start jumping up and down. She was unsure though. It was one thing teaching students who didn't know her and another to teach ones who already did. Before she could say anything, Fred blurted out, "Yes!"

Taking Hermione's hand in his own, he turned and said to her, "We loved teaching and it was perfect for us. Remember how much fun we had teaching?"

Nodding her head, Hermione thought it over for a couple of minutes. Could she teach again? Yes, she could and she really wanted to. Would she teach again? Hermione fought herself on this. She knew she was supposed to go into the Ministry, hopefully to argue for fair rights to magical creatures, but teaching felt like the better choice for her. Who knows, knowing her she would find a way to do both. Turning to face McGonagall, she said with a smile,"I guess you just found two new teachers, Professor."

**oooooooooooooooooooooo**

**Practically this whole part of the chapter belongs to BlueRosesAtMidnight, I only tweaked a few things.**

"Hey Charlie," Hermione greeted her brother-in-law as she and Fred walked through the gate into the backyard where almost everyone had already gathered. She and Fred had slept through their alarm, and thus left the castle at a quarter to eleven.

"Hey sis," he kissed her cheek in welcome, taking the brightly wrapped presents she was carrying. "You look nice."

"Thank you," she smiled, spinning around once. She was wearing a simple yellow sundress that flowed to mid-calf. Fred had just worn jeans and a T-shirt, since he was planning to playing quidditch.

"Have the games started yet?" Fred asked.

"Nope. Harry just got here a few minutes before you did, so they're getting ready to go play right now," Charlie answered as he placed the gifts at the base of a huge stack of presents off to one side.

It was July thirty-first and Fred and Hermione were celebrating Harry's was a boisterous affair, with hardly anyone staying in their seats. People were continuously in and out of there seats, talking to others, and wishing both boys happy birthday. Some of the Order members were changing off keeping an eye out in general, not that there was any threat from evil. Rather it was to make sure no press tried to get in. Molly was running between the kitchen and the buffet table making sure there was plenty of everything set out.

"Cake!" Molly called, "Gather round to sing!"

"Make a wish, and blow out the candles so the waddlesbores don't breed in the flames," Luna smiled at them.

"Thanks Luna," Harry fought a laugh, and on the count of three, he blew out all the candles in a single breath. Molly used a cutting spell to quickly divvy up the cake, and soon everyone was eating. Harry was like a little kid; finishing his cake quickly before rushing over to the presents, waiting impatiently for everyone else to come over too.

"No more sugar for Potter," Hermione muttered to a laughing Fred.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh each time Harry opened a present. Every time, without fail, he tore the paper off in seconds, genuinely admiring the present, and then he made sure to hug, or shake hands, with the giver before taking his seat again. Hermione and Fred's presents winded up being the last to be opened, not that they minded.

"Open the flatter one first," Fred spoke up.

"Gotcha," Harry grinned, tearing the paper off. Opening it, he pulled out the nondescript album. "Ooh cool, a photo album."

"Open it silly," Hermione laughed as he made to put it aside, assuming it was just an empty album.

"Hermione, Fred," Harry breathed in shock as he looked over the first page, realization dawning on him.

"You honestly think we'd spend all that time in the past and not do something to bring you memories of your parents?" Hermione smiled as she leaned back against Fred, his arms around her. "We spent the year collecting pictures, and working on the scrapbook."

Hermione and Fred had never told anyone exactly what time period they went to and George had forgotten the year Dumbledore had mention since he was too worked up about what had just happened. Even after they returned, no one seemed interested in what year they traveled too, they were just happy that Hermione and Fred were safe. It was Fred's idea not to tell anyone anyway, he wanted to surprise Harry with the photos and memories. In a way, this was how they decided to tell Harry. Neither wanted him mad at them for not warning his parents or for being able to spend time with them while he couldn't.

"I don't know how I can thank you for this," Harry started to get up.

"Hey, don't thank us yet," Fred chuckled. "You've still got one more to open."

"I hope it's not like this one," Harry joked as he started to tear into it. "My emotions won't be able to handle it."

"Well than get a bunch of tissues ready," Hermione giggled as he pulled out the silver bowl. "Cause what you've holding is a pensive filled with copies of our memories of your parents and various events involving them."

"Thank you," Harry got up and came over, grabbing her tightly in a hug, fighting back tears. The other guests dispersed and headed to the dance floor, giving them some space. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, and a million times more. Merlin, that feels totally inadequate!"

"Don't worry about it Harry," Hermione said. "Your happiness with the gift is thanks enough."

With one last smile of thanks, Harry practically bounded over to his girlfriend who was on the dance floor with a number of others. While Harry was thanking them, Lee had started up the music, and all the guests, except for the older adults, were dancing.

"We did good," Hermione grinned up at her husband.

"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" Fred replied rhetorically.

Sighing, Hermione said, "I'll miss our time in the past and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Neither would I," Fred answered back. Kissing Hermione, he whispered, "I'll always love you, forever and always."

THE END

SIDE STORY

It had taken about month for everything to settle down but when it had, Fred and Hermione couldn't have been more pleased. At first they didn't mind the questions everyone asked and they understood that what happened wasn't what anyone expected. However, once everyone started asking personal and private questions (loudly, repeatedly, and in very public places), Hermione and Fred decided that they needed a break from it all. Currently, they were both hiding out in their old room at Hogwarts getting ready for the next school year. They had both accepted the teaching positions and they were eager to start teaching again.

Suddenly, Fred stood up and threw his hands in the air while shouting, "Ugh! I can't take it anymore!"

Confused, Hermione asked, "What?"

"Er ... Um ... well you know how I just came back from the Burrow?" Fred started out, blushing madly at Hermione's nod, "Charlie and Bill kinda cornered me, you see. They ... They started asking when we were going to ... er ... you know."

Piecing together the pieces, Hermione blushed along with him and said, "Is that why you've been reading that picture upside down for the last hour."

Turning even more red, Fred looked away in embarrassment, "I told them that they had no business knowing and that we would do that when we wanted," Fred stated, before mumbling, "Plus it's still to early to start a family."

Smiling at him, Hermione took his hand and said, "I agree. They just can't understand that you and I are happy the way we are and that when we feel that we are both ready for that step in our relationship, we will take it."

Taking Hermione into his arms, Fred hummed in contentment. "This is why I love you so much; you know exactly how I feel."

"Same goes to you," Hermione replied softly.

"Tydyes wants the readers to continue reviewing the story now that it's over with," Fred murmured into her ear.

"I know, it's never too late to review," she murmured back.

**REVIEW AND/OR FLAME PLEASE**


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